


An Adventure of Love and Confusion

by BigDickFlex



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/F, Love Triangles, Pls help her, Romance, Yoshiko is awkward, maybe angst?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-01-07 16:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12236376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigDickFlex/pseuds/BigDickFlex
Summary: (Sequel to Riko x Doujin)CompleteChapters past 13 contain short stories and after stories!Certain incidents have stirred feelings in Yoshiko, and they all have to do with one person. Ruby Kurosawa. However, unknown to her, these feelings will create a whole other set of problems for this idol group!Love leads to love in this world of gay idols. Love triangles! a whole bunch of ships! Find out what happens in this Adventure of Love and Confusion!





	1. Chapter 1

January, a month that was slow as it was cold, at least in her opinion. Wrapping the wool scarf around her neck, Yoshiko sighed. Now that the long winter break was over, school was just now starting back up. 

Though she wasn't sure if it was better or worse, compared to what happened over the break. She could only shudder at the terrible memory. Shaking her head and finally tugging on her shoes, Yoshiko opened the door and prepared herself for the cold. Looking out into the winter wasteland of Numazu, she couldn't help but be bitter. Did they have to wear skirts even when it was snowing?

Jogging to the bus stop to keep warm, Yoshiko felt her thoughts wander to a certain red head. Just a week ago, the girl had made a surprise visit to her home, giving her an early Christmas present. However, that wasn't the only thing she got.....

Feeling her face grow hot, Yoshiko shook her head and lightly slapped her face. It seems like most of her recent thoughts were of Ruby. Arriving just in time to catch the bus, Yoshiko quickly grabbed a seat and sighed in relief. Glancing out the window, she decided to rest a bit.

-  
Standing outside of the inn, Yoshiko scolded herself for stalling. She had no reason to be nervous, yet why did she fell so uneasy? After all, her friends were waiting on her, and she didn't want them to stop the party. 

Wait, was anyone even here yet? She did arrive a little early, so it was possible that everyone hadn't arrived yet. But if there was a chance that SHE was already there.....

After steeling herself to finally enter, she heard someone shout her name, and the uneasy feeling grew. Turning to see who it was, her heart beat faster, and her face grew red.

"Yoshiko-chan!"

"Yoshik-"

"Yoshiko-chan, wake up!" 

Jolting awake, Yoshiko rubbed her eyes, and quickly looked around to confirm where she was. Seeing that the bus had not yet arrived at the school, she turned to see who rudely awakened her. 

"Thank goodness, I was starting to think you were dead." 

"It's Yohane..."

You laughed heartily at her grumpy expression, before bowing down with an exaggerated clap.

"Sorry, I missed the bus so I had to run and catch it at the next stop."

Yoshiko snorted and leaned back, relieved that it was only You, and not some stranger. It was weird how the girl was late on the first day back to school, but she decided against asking about it.

"Interrupting the sleep of a fallen angel is the cause of eternal punishment you know." Laughing at her tired, not so convincing words, You peered at her curiously. 

"W-What? Do I have something on my face?" Checking just in case, Yoshiko rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"No, it's just, you seem kind of out of it today. Is something wrong?" Looking at her in confusion, Yoshiko shook her head. Did she seem different? Sure, she was extremely tired for some reason, but that was about it. 

"No? Must be my imagination then." The bus stopped, and they arrived at school. Stepping off the bus with the unbearably energetic girl, Yoshiko yawned again, before waving goodbye to You and heading to class.

School absolutely sucked. The only upside to it was being in the school idol club. At least there she could be herself. 

"Whoa!" 

Nearly running into someone, she almost apologized, before realizing who it was. "Yoshiko-chan, you have to watch where you're going, zura." The small bookworm scolded her with a cheerful smile.

Wearing a yellow scarf that looked awfully familiar, Hanamaru was looking exceptionally well despite the cold weather. 

"It's been a while, Zuramaru." Grinning in spite of her mood, Yoshiko was glad to see her old friend. The last time they met was during the trip to the tropical island. She would've saw her at the party, but...

"Oh! We're going to be late, Yoshiko-chan! Let's hurry!" Hanamaru frantically took her hand, taking her out of her thoughts and to the hell called school.

 

-  
"Yoshiko-chan!" Hearing who it was, Yoshiko's mind went blank. Ruby stopped running, tired and out of breath. Despite her fatigue, she smiled, happy to see the previously sick girl well again. 

"Are you ready for the party?" Unable to answer, Yoshiko merely stuttered, turning away from the girl. Why couldn't she answer her? Why was she so nervous?  
"Huh? Are you okay, Yoshiko-chan?" 

Worried about her, Ruby moved closer. Stumbling back, Yoshiko tried to avoided eye contact. The close contact made her nervous. But why? It wasn't anything different from usual. Before she realized it, she was running.

 

-  
"Where's Ruby-chan?" Looking around, Chika frowned, noticing the absence of their usual cute red head. Now that the school day was over, the school idol club was having its first official meeting of the year. 

"I think she's sick, zura." 

"Sick?" 

Everyone immediately looked in the general direction of the first years. "W-What, zura?! All Ruby-chan did was drop off an early Christmas present!" Quickly defending herself, everyone turned to the next culprit. 

"H-Hey don't look at me! All Ruby did was drop off a present and...." The girl's words trailed off, making her only seem more suspicious, especially in the eyes of Dia. After all, Ruby was her precious sister.

"What did you do, Yoshiko-san?!" The older girl would've leapt out of her chair if not for the other third years holding her back. 

Riko looked out the window, worried. "I hope she's okay, this winter has been really cold..." You pointed at the hysterical third year and patted her on the shoulder.

"She's probably fine, the legendary student council president is her sister after all."

Chika chuckled nervously before giving a apologetic grin to Yoshiko, who was still getting attacked by Dia. At least practice would be eventful.

 

-  
"Hey, Yoshiko-chan!" 

Running to catch up to her, crimson eyes lit up happily as Yoshiko turned in confusion. She didn't seem to be in the dazed state she was in before, thank goodness. 

After being told by a certain ocean loving girl that the first year had been in a bad mood, Chika decided to take it upon herself to cheer her up. While most people probably would've voted for someone else to do the job, she wanted to show them that she could be as helpful as anyone else.

She was the leader wasn't she? It was her job to help her team through trouble. 

"Let's walk home together!" 

So, despite the fact that they lived in totally different directions, and that the bus back to her house would take an hour to come, Chika walked home with Yoshiko.

 

-  
"So, then I decided to get four garden gnomes, but then Kanan-chan said no! Can you believe that!?"

"I'm pretty sure anyone would refuse using garden gnomes for Christmas decorations." 

Chika smiled as the girl laughed. It seemed like her mood brightened considerably. However, now that they were walking in comfortable silence, she realized something. 

"Wait a minute..... you weren't at the party were you?" Confirming her question with a nod, the second year burst into a fit of rage. 

"Why didn't you say so?! We could have done it another time!" She punched herself internally. She was so preoccupied with the decorations at the time, so she never noticed. What kind of leader was she? 

"D-Don't worry about it, I was still sick after all." Glancing away with a guilty look, Yoshiko rubbed her head sheepishly.

Chika's eyes narrowed at her reaction. Was she hiding something? Despite what people thought, she was actually pretty perceptive. First, she would have to casually bring up something to confirm her suspicions.

"Hey, you didn't really answer this before, but what exactly did you do with Ruby that made her sick?" 

However, due to the fact that Chika was totally oblivious to things such as inappropriate phrasing, Yoshiko began blushing for a various amount of reasons.

"N-Nothing! I mean.... nothing too bad...I mean all she did was hug me.."

Connecting the dots, Chika began giggling, before patting the young girl's head like a clueless puppy. "Poor Yoshiko-chan, I guess not having friends made physical contact too much for her."

"H-Hey!" Despite protesting, she couldn't help but wonder if that was the case. She wasn't going to deny that she had no friends. It was just that they couldn't take the overwhelming presence she had. Though being socially awkward did explain her strange feelings she had when she thought of Ruby.

Nodding, Yoshiko knew that had to be the case. After all, most hugs she got were from Mari or Chika, and most of them were relatively short.

Now that a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders, she could go on not feeling guilty. She would to apologize to Ruby for running away that day too...

"Awww, Yoshiko-chan, you big, awkward, anti-social cutie!" Getting tackled by Chika's famous bear hug, she couldn't help but smile while struggling to get her off. 

Even if the girl didn't know it, she had helped her out immensely. 

After finally wresting the rabid orange away (her strength was frightening), Yoshiko saw her off at the bus stop, and finally went home. 

 

-  
She didn't understand. Watching her friend run, those were Ruby's only thoughts. 

If there was one thing that frightened her the most, it would be losing those most precious to her. Especially if she was the cause of it. Yet, she didn't understand what she possibly did wrong. If anything, they should've become closer over the year.

So why did she feel as if they drifted even farther apart?

Ruby didn't know how long she stood there. However, after a while, she felt the cold pierce her. Realizing that it wasn't wise to stay out, she ran home.

She didn't notice the tears.

 

-  
"Achoo!" 

"Honestly, I expected this from someone like Chika-san, but you?" 

Grabbing the tissue box, Ruby bowed an apology as she heard her sister sigh. "I-I'm sorry, onee-chan." It wasn't like she wanted to get sick. Plus, it was the winter, so there always a chance anyone would  
catch a cold. 

Missing the first day of back to school was something she never imagined she would do, but Ruby somehow managed to achieve it. 

Now that the first day was over, she had tried her best to recover for the second day. She wanted a good education after all. Plus, her friends must've been really worried, since she didn't go to the party. 

"Ruby, did Yoshiko-san, by chance, do anything to you?" 

Surprised by the unexpected question, Ruby stared at her sister blankly. What did she mean by that? Seeing her confusion, Dia sighed. "What I mean is, did she, touch you in anyway?" Good one. Nearly punching herself for her top notch wording, she watched as the young girl's face lit up a bright red.

"O-Of course not! Yoshiko-chan would never do something like that." Ignoring the stab in her heart, Ruby defended her friend. Yoshiko was just misunderstood, she wasn't a bad person either. Though she did tend to mess things up a lot, that was just part of her charm. 

She must have a had a good reason for running away too...

"Fine, I get it." Looking at the clock, Dia sighed once more before smiling at her sister. "You better get some rest if you want to get back to school tomorrow."

Surprised, Ruby nodded happily. She would finally be able to see her friends again. She hadn't talked to Hanamaru in a while, so they would have to catch up soon. She couldn't wait to see Yoshiko either...

Her smile fading, Ruby looked down, holding back tears. Would she want to see her? Did she not want to be her friend anymore? Is that what it meant when she ran that night? 

Laying down, she knew one thing. If she was going to find out, she would have to ask her directly. 

 

-  
Well, that's what she told herself last night. Standing in front of the girl's house, Ruby stood nervously. Occasionally she raised her hand to knock, before changing her mind. 

She had arrived at her home early in the morning, so that they could walk together, but now she was starting to regret her decision. What if she refused? Then again, they would still have to ride the bus together since it was the only one.... but then again, it'd be extremely awkward...

Shaking her head, she decided to go for it. Raising her hand to knock the door, Ruby froze as the door began to open by itself. Dropping her toast, Yoshiko stood, stunned at the sudden arrival of her friend.

An unexpected start to their year. And the start of something even bigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back with a real story! This past month was filled with hard work and tears (kind of). Anyway, this was the first chapter for my YohaRuby fic, and like Riko x Doujin, there isn't really a main character. I want everyone in Aqours to get a chance to shine, so look forward to more!


	2. Chapter 2

You didn't mean to eavesdrop on them. She just happened to come at the wrong time. Deciding to spice things up a bit, she had wanted to walk to school with her best bud Yoshiko. Though that was just an excuse to check up on her, she always loved the completely random and dynamic conversations they had.

So, leaping up the stairs with a grin, she was prepared to see the stunned look on the other girl's face when she surprised her.

However, just as she was about to round the corner to the first year's home, You heard a sharp gasp. Peeking around the corner, she was surprised to see Ruby.

To her knowledge, the red head had just recently recovered. As to how she found out so quickly, it was all thanks to Dia posting on twitter how blessed she was that her beloved sister had been cured by a miracle (that might seem like an exaggeration, but there were at least ten more paragraphs of that). 

It would also be extremely unwise for someone who just recovered from a cold to travel all the way to the city. So, whatever she was doing here must've been important if she was risking her health. 

Usually, You would ask straight out, but for some reason she hesitated. Something felt strange about the situation. Not only was the atmosphere awkwardly tense, but both first years merely stared at each other.

That was, until Yoshiko broke the silence. 

"Y-You're looking pretty. I-I'm mean, pretty good. I-I-I mean health wise, not like, attractively. I mean, I'm not saying you're not attractive!"

Well, she tried. 

You felt like she was watching a terribly awkward teenage boy confess to the most popular girl in his grade. It was so painful, that she almost considered jumping in to help. It did leave her with a question though, why exactly was she so nervous?

Thankfully, Ruby took her awkwardness in stride, and giggled happily. 

"Thank you, Yoshiko-chan, it's nice to see you too." 

The smile that followed was enough to captivate even You. It never occurred to her, but while Ruby was usually described as cute, the only word that she could think of at that moment was beautiful. It made her forget for a moment that she was an underclassmen.

Somehow, Yoshiko managed not to faint right there and then. Turning away, she replied with something You knew she only did when she was nervous.

"I-It's Yohane!"

This seemed to be enough for the tense atmosphere to pass, and You sighed in relief. She felt like she just saw something she wasn't supposed to see. Watching the two girls now freely talk, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. 

Though she wasn't exactly sure why.

 

-  
Ruby was ecstatic. Walking home with her fellow first years, she couldn't feel any happier than she was. After talking to Yoshiko that morning, she realized that something as trivial as what happened that Christmas wasn't nearly enough to make them stop being friends.

Though she would probably never find out why Yoshiko had ran that day, it didn't matter to her. What mattered was that it didn't change anything. 

"Ruby-chan, have you ever went skiing before, zura?" 

"Skiing?"

After departing from their fallen angel friend, Hanamaru had brought up a question that came completely out of nowhere. Closing her eyes thoughtfully, Ruby shook her head. Most winters were spent at home, so going to a ski resort was out of the question. 

"Why are you thinking about this all of sudden, Maru-chan?" 

It wasn't often her best friend would ask something out of the blue like that.

"I read a book recently on it, and I thought it sounded kind of interesting, zura." 

"Hmm..." 

Thinking about, it was a new experience, and maybe it would make up for the complete lack of snow on their previous winter trip. The more she thought about it, the appealing it was to her, and Ruby nodded her head excitedly.

"Maybe we can ask Mari-san to take us to a resort!"

 

-  
However, Ruby found the task to be much more difficult then she anticipated. Asking Mari was easy, considering how much she owed them. The hard part was convincing her sister to let Aqours take another break.

"We've already missed nearly a month of practice, and missing any more would be a fatal blow on not only our future performances, but also our popularity." 

That was the answer Ruby got coming home that day. Realizing that it would take much more to convince Dia, she decided to come up with a strategy. 

Now that she was currently in her room, Ruby had time to try and collect her thoughts. After hitting her first roadblock, she had decided to call one of the most trustworthy people she knew for advice on the matter.

"Well, she does have a good point, so I find it hard to really argue with her." 

"Y-Yeah, but....."

Biting her lip, she knew what the older girl said was true. Hearing Riko's thoughtful humming on the other end of the phone, Ruby tried to think of someway to convince her stubborn sister, to no avail.

"W-What should I do?" 

A brief silence followed, before the older girl finally replied. 

"It's not much, but I think you should just be sincere. Show her that you'll be serious with practice when you get back. Though you'll have to convince everyone else to actually practice seriously as well." 

Riko chuckled, before wishing her luck and hanging up, leaving her to think about the situation herself. The next day, she decided to confront Dia once more. 

"P-Please, onee-chan! I swear we'll all practice hard when we come back!"

Taking Riko's advice to heart, Ruby wanted to show her sister exactly how much she wanted Aqours to take this trip. Bowing her head, she closed her eyes and hoped for the best. 

After an agonizingly long moment of silence, Ruby heard a sigh, and looked up to see her sister smiling. "You've matured, Ruby." 

Still keeping her hopeful gaze, the young girl waited for a response. 

"I'll allow it this once, but-"

That was all Ruby heard, before jumping up a hugging her sister as tight as she could. 

"T-Thank you, onee-chan! I won't let you down!" 

Giving Dia one last look of determination, Ruby ran to tell her friends the good news.

 

-  
"Ski trip?" 

Sipping her drink, Kanan looked curiously at the girl in front of her. 

The cafe was empty, save for the two girls. One who ordered a coffee, and another who ordered way to much for her to eat or drink alone. She said that it was an adventure to taste everything on the menu, but Kanan doubted that she could finish it all.

Nodding excitedly, Mari began eating her strawberry parfait. Along with the drink that was overflowing with chocolate she had, the flavor would be interesting for her, to say the least.

"Ruby called last night, just begging me to let us go! Isn't she just the cutest girl ever?!" 

"Huh..."

Adding sugar to her coffee, Kanan began wondering exactly what happened to the young girl to make her take charge of something like that. For trips, it was usually Dia or the second years (besides, Chika) who planned or brought up such topics. 

Apparently, Mari was thinking the same thing. 

"Hasn't she just become the bravest little thing? I wonder what made her change so much."

Chuckling, Kanan nodded in agreement. Thinking about it, the tropical island incident probably played a big part. She decided not to bring it up though. It was still a sore subject for Mari, and while the blonde might've put on a brave face, Kanan saw right through her.

Suddenly realizing something, she turned to ask Mari another question.

"Wait, did Dia really agree to it?" 

After all, they did just come back from a trip, so the stubborn student council president would probably want them to spend time practicing, now that all nine of them were back.

The blonde nodded, mouth full of ice cream, and seemingly just as surprised as she was. Finally managing to swallow it, Mari began speaking in excitement.

"Yes! Apparently, Ruby convinced her!" 

Raising her eyebrows, Kanan had to wonder how the first year had accomplish such a thing. It wasn't often someone could convince Dia to do something. 

Grinning, Kanan leaned forward in her seat. 

"I assume you're paying for it again?" 

"O-Of course."

The reaction she got was something that would probably surprise everyone else. Mari started blushing, fidgeting with her spoon. It was honestly one of the most rewarding things Kanan had ever seen in her life.

It wasn't often the blonde would get embarrassed, but when she did, it was relatively easy for anyone to tease her. 

"Hey don't worry, I'm sure it won't turn out like last time." With another sly grin, she turned back to her coffee. 

"Kanan!"

Exclaiming in anger, Mari turned, pouting. Feeling as if she had gone just a tad bit too far, Kanan laughed and apologized.

"S-Sorry, it's just so much fun messing with you sometimes."

Leaning back, satisfied, Kanan looked out the window thoughtfully. "Skiing, huh." Murmuring, she had to wonder if things would go wrong. Knowing Aqours, the answer was probably obvious.

 

-  
"Chika-chan, wake up!"

Jerking awake, the ginger jumped up. Writing again as if nothing happened, Chika grinned at her companion apologetically. 

"S-Sorry, Riko-chan, I didn't get much sleep last night."

Shaking her head, Riko rubbed her temples and sighed. Since the new term had started, she had recently found out that, though it was no surprise, Chika's grades were absolutely terrible. And considering that she was their leader, it probably wouldn't set a good example. 

So, deciding that it would be wise to tutor her before Dia found out, Riko had come over to help her study. 

But instead of studying, the shorter girl had only fallen asleep for a total of 12 times (yes she counted), not getting anything done.

"Don't tell me you were watching school idol videos all night." 

A nervous laugh only confirmed her suspicions, and Riko sighed once more. 

"Chika-chan, if you want the school idol club to stay together, you have to keep your grades up." 

"O-Ok, I'm serious now!" 

Nodding vigorously, Chika picked up her pencil, and was about to begin writing, when she suddenly got a text on her phone. 

"Chika-chan! Get off your phone! And why is your ringer set to me screaming?!"

I thought it'd be funny. Plus, I think it's really cute."

Shrugging innocently, Chika looked at the text, ignoring her protests. Eyes widening in surprise, she jumped up energetically, hugging The nearest person as hard as she could, which happened to be Riko.

"Look, Riko-chan! Skiing! We're going skiing!" 

Grabbing the phone from her hand, Riko looked at the text and paled. Who would bring up such an absurd idea in the midst of her recovery?

"Fine! But you're only going if you pass your next test!" 

If she was going to get bad news, something good would come of it.

"W-What?! But that ones the hardest!"

"Chika-chan..."

Riko's glare was enough to shut her up. Getting back to her work though, Chika could barely contain herself. While some people might have had problems with the island trip (okay, so most people), she felt like it brought Aqours much closer than before. So she considered that a win.

The same could be said for this ski trip. Though hopefully nothing would go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's chapter two! This is one of my personal favorite chapters I prepared, so I hope you enjoyed as well. 
> 
> (I hope to put more Maru in the story, because I love her more than I love myself so plsjshw)


	3. Chapter 3

"AHHHHHH!"

Yoshiko threw her blankets off in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, she shook her head to get rid of the nightmare. A glance at the clock confirmed her fears, and she paled. Today was the day of the ski trip. 

Ever since Chika had texted them about it a few weeks ago, Yoshiko had nightmares for ever single day leading up to it. Though for some reason, they were particularly bad today.

Luckily (for once in her life), she woke up 30 minutes earlier than her alarm, so she had time to kill.

She knew that a repeat of the island trip was imminent. It may seem like she was being paranoid, but it was for good reason. To put it simply, everything Yoshiko is involved in will not end happily. 

To further make her bad mood worse, she hadn't seen Ruby for the whole week! Well, it wasn't like she needed to, but it would be nice to see her once in a while. What's wrong with wanting to see a friend?

After going through her usual morning ritual, Yoshiko jumped as she heard a knock at the front door. Not bothering to fix herself up anymore than she did, she answered the door.

"Yoshiko-chan!" 

There stood You, energetic as usual. Cringing at the loud voice and bright sunlight, Yoshiko sighed, before grabbing her bags. 

She didn't even have to check the time to know why she was there.

 

-  
"Why is it always you who ends up disrupting my sleep?" 

Sitting on the bus, a familiar scene presented itself. The only difference was the huge bags they carried, and the fact that Yoshiko felt terrible. Though that was probably normal.

When she had expressed her obvious disdain for the ski trip, Yoshiko had tried to find every possible way to escape. However, somehow, everyone had found out she was lying (apparently saying that she had a ritual that day wasn't convincing enough), and You had taken it upon herself to make sure she didn't skip the trip.

So, knowing how stubborn the girl could be, Yoshiko had accepted her fate. 

Shrugging her shoulders, You looked around in her bag, double checking her things.

"You might want to check your stuff too, Yoshiko-chan. After all, you don't want to be underprepared just in case something happens."

See? Even You knew that something terrible would happen to her. She didn't say it out loud, but she knew that was exactly what the second year was thinking.

And it was probably true too, because right after, Yoshiko noticed something strange. 

Shuffling through her bag she frowned. Was she missing something? Before she could figure out what it was, the bus stopped, and they arrived at the meeting spot.

 

-  
Seeing all of them together was a surreal experience. After all, they hadn't come together for nearly two weeks. Mostly because of planning for the trip, and some people were still recovering from the previous one.

Yoshiko was happy though, she had missed her friends. Even if they were the cause of everything bad that happened to her. 

"Hey, Zuramaru!"

Turning in surprise, the small bookworm smiled and waved in excitement. Jogging up to her, Yoshiko couldn't help but smile as well.

"Yoshiko-chan! Are you ready for the trip?"

"Y-Yeah, haha..."

She laughed nervously, and looked around for something else to talk about. She didn't want to think about it too much.

"Where's Ruby, by the way?" 

After arriving, You had gone to talk to the other second years, while Kanan was arguing with Mari (something about parfaits?). However, the Kurosawa siblings were nowhere to be found.

"Apparently, Ruby-chan had to do some last minute preparations for the trip, zura. You know how Dia-san can be."

Yoshiko nodded thoughtfully. Now that she thought about it, she was late the day they went to Tokyo too. 

She always thought this, but Dia really was overprotective. She'd have to be careful around Ruby from now on.

Wait a second, that made it seem like she would do something weird. 

Before she could think about it anymore, Yoshiko heard one of the cutest sounds in all of existence.

"Yoshiko-chan! Hanamaru-chan!" 

Turning to see who it was, she smiled and thanked the gods for blessing the world with the angel that was Ruby Kurosawa.

 

-  
Instead of a plane, they were on a bus. It was a bit of a downgrade, compared to the private jet they were on, but Yoshiko found the normal public bus a bit more comfortable. 

Another difference from the island trip was who they were seating with. This was something she was extremely grateful for, compared to everything else that she had experienced that day. 

Instead of seating with Chika, who nearly spent the whole time telling jokes to Mari across the aisle during the plane trip, Yoshiko was seated with her favorite person in the world, Ruby. 

However.....

The trip to the ski lodge would take quite a while, so Dia had warned them to bring some kind of entertainment, as long as it didn't interfere with the peace and quiet.

Deciding against doing a summoning (she would wait until they got to the lodge for that), Yoshiko reached into her bag. However, this was when she realized what she was missing. 

It was her phone.

Yoshiko was missing the one most essential tools for travel, something far too important to just casually forget and leave at home. Yet she had somehow managed to accomplish this amazingly stupid feat.

After expressing her sadness and frustration (by slamming her head on the window), Ruby rubbed her back soothingly, attempting words of reassurance.

"D-Don't worry, Yoshiko-chan, you don't need your phone to have fun!"

"Y-Yeah....."

She knew the redhead was trying to help, but the girl just didn't understand. Yoshiko's phone was not just an object used to call people. In this day and age of technology, a fallen angel had to adapt somehow. So not only had she used her phone to update her blog, she also read the comments on her streams.

So, for hours she would have to suffer, with no link to the outside world. Thankfully, Ruby was once again, her saving grace. 

"Yoshiko-chan, if you want you can use my phone."

What did this planet of darkness do to deserve this pure creature of light?

So, after updating her fans on her status, Yoshiko spent the trip playing word games with Hanamaru (she was destroyed without mercy) and looking at passing attractions with Ruby. 

Five hours later, they arrived. After wrapping herself in her winter gear, Yoshiko stepped off the bus. 

"Holy crap..."

Unable to suppress her amazement, she looked around at the snowy landscape. The resort was huge. As a matter a fact, that was probably an understatement. 

The lodge was nearly the size of their school, and the surrounding slopes went on for miles. Though one thing that made her extremely uneasy was...

"What?! There's no one here!"

Chika shouted, her loud voice echoing for miles. As everyone came off the bus, it became clear. 

They were the only ones at the resort.

 

-  
"Mari!" 

Kanan was so close to punching her in the face. She wasn't a violent person, but this would be an exception. Sadly, before she could give divine punishment, she was stopped by Ruby. 

"D-Don't worry, Kanan-chan, I'm sure she just meant the best for us!" 

Looking at the worried, pleading look on her face, Kanan reluctantly lowered her fist.

The redhead was just too powerful.

"Anyway, I think we should just rest for today." 

"But-"

Glaring at Mari, the usually calm and cool third year was not calm and cool. Thankfully, no one decided to test her wrath, in fear of getting absolutely demolished.

The walk to the lodge was quiet and uncomfortable. However, now that they were finally inside, the good mood was back, and everyone looked around in amazement.

Well, most of them did.

Like always, Chika was the first to run around like some kind of animal. Taking as many mints as she could from the front desk (what was this, a hotel?), the ginger looked around in amazement, nearly diving into the giant fountain in the middle of the entrance.

Thankfully, Riko was there to catch her, chastising her when she did something stupid (which was like, 70% of the time). Hanamaru and Yoshiko were playing rock-paper-scissors to see who would take the bath first, the latter losing with her strange scissors.

You watched Ruby as she looked around in amazement at the huge fountain, along with the long spiral staircase. She was unable to suppress her smile. 

Even Dia was overwhelmed. Timidly walking up the stairs, she called everyone over so no one would get lost. Though that was mostly for her comfort. Walking into a hall, everyone gasped at the many, many rooms.

Kanan sighed. All she wanted to do was sleep. If you couldn't tell, luxury wasn't really her thing. Arriving at a random room, the first thing she did was collapse on the bed, instantly falling asleep.

 

-  
She woke up to the sound of the wind. Groggily getting up, Kanan checked her phone in a daze. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. Shivering slightly, she got up, looking to see if anyone else was in the room with her.

Smiling softly at the sight of one of her usually stern childhood friends sleeping soundly, Kanan looked around for another friend. A certain blonde haired eccentric to be exact. 

Noticing the open balcony door, Kanan walked into the chilly night, seeing exactly who she expected. 

"Mari..." 

Turning with a temporary surprised expression, Mari smiled and patted the seat next to her. Ignoring the chill, she decided to take her offer. 

"Aren't you cold?" 

"I'm fine Kanan, I've been through much worse you know."

Kanan frowned. Mari was wearing just a night dress, so she must've been freezing. However, she want showing any signs of being cold. Ignoring her protest, she took off her robes and wrapped it around her. Kanan was only wearing a tank top, but it didn't bother her.

Not noticing the blush on the blonde's face, she looked around at the mountains and slopes. Even at night they were beautiful. 

"Kanan, I'm sorry."

The comfortable silence was broken, and Kanan looked at her in surprise. 

"I just wanted to make up for what happened before, and I didn't think I'd make it worse." 

She looked down as if she was about to cry. Another emotion rarely seen by everyone else. 

Even after all this time, Mari was still one who worried way too much. Shaking her head, Kanan laughed at the expression on her face, before turning back to the scenery.

"Nah, it wasn't too bad. I guess I overreacted a little."

Kanan turned to look at her again, chuckling nervously, before giving a warm smile.

"Thanks anyway, Mari."

Eyes widening, Mari smiled back tenfold, before tackling her with a hug. Stumbling out of her seat in surprise, she chuckled and lightly held her.

"Isn't that usually my thing?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Mari kill me. Anyway, this is a transition chapter for the ski trip arc, so sorry if it's kind of slow. Stay tuned for the next one! Btw sunshine season 2 HYYYYPE.


	4. Chapter 4

"Shiny!"

Flying down the slope at impossibly horrifying speeds, Dia watched as Mari went faster and faster.

"M-Mari-san, be careful!"

Of course, ignoring her warnings, the blonde sped up even more and disappeared over the slope.

"Haha..." Chika laughed awkwardly, patting the older girls shoulder in attempted reassurance. After the first day of doing nothing, everyone was especially excited to get the fun going. At the expense of Dia's sanity, of course.

Howwever, besides Mari's totally dangerous snowboarding tricks, she had to watch out for Yoshiko.

For some reason, the younger girl was hanging out with her sister for a suspiciously long time. Was she just being overprotective? Ruby was independent, so it didn't matter what she thought about it after all.

However, for some reason, Dia couldn't help but twitch at the sight of them together. Yoshiko had a look in her eyes that seemed far too comfortable for her liking.

Chika noticed her glaring, and looked at her curiously. Without saying anything, she looked back and forth between the third and first year. Yoshiko was currently talking to Ruby, waving her hands as if bragging about something.

"Is there something wrong with Yoshiko-chan?"

Dia continued her glaring, clenching her fist in anger. "Everything, Chika-san. Everything."

"Huh?"

Before she could ask her what that meant, the older girl sulked away, and Chika was left alone in confusion.

 

-  
"F-Finally..."

With a grunt that was less than composed, Dia threw the last of the equipment on the ground. Barely able to breathe, she looked at the roof of the old shack in disbelief.

After their day of fun, she thought it would be beneficial if they put all of their equipment away. It was a hazard, after all. However, it seems everyone else did not share her sentiment.

Deciding to have the two who lost the game of rock-paper-scissors put away everything, Dia thought it would be a learning opportunity to put them into shape. 

She didn't expect to be the one to lose. 

Collapsing on the ground, she had to wonder, with all the exercises she did, why did she have the lung capacity of a goldfish?

"Phew, I didn't expect this to be so much work!" Glaring at her companion, Dia merely shook her head. To make matters worse, her partner was the one and only Yoshiko.

Though it only made sense, considering the first year's streak of bad luck.

But did that mean she had to suffer too?

Sighing, Dia decided to just deal with the other girl. After all, she was supposed to be the mature one of the group, wasn't she? Looking around the small room, she nodded, satisfied with the work done.

"Though why did Mari-san feel the need to buy such a worn down building?" She was wondering it ever since they started putting equipment in, but a creepy shed in the middle of the woods? Yeah.

Suddenly, in the silence of her musing, Dia heard wind. Not just a normal breeze, but enough to shake the worn down equipment shed. 

Considering that it was still winter, and they were in the snowy mountains, this was not a good sign. Dread creeping in, Dia ran to look out the window. Heart sinking, she could only stare in disbelief.

They were in the middle of a blizzard.

 

-  
Yoshiko was nervous. Even though she tried her hardest throughout the day, she couldn't ignore the burning glare of a certain third year. 

Sure, she got Ruby sick (by complete accident), but they didn't mean they had to have any hard feelings about it. Instead, she felt like Dia hated her even more than usual.

Though it didn't help that they just happened to be caught in one of the worst scenarios possible. Just a few moments ago, the sky was completely clear. Now it was like Yoshiko was cursed to suffer.

Considering the fact that this was about the second of two storms she had to go through, it was honestly terrible. 

Though it was almost like the writer of this story was running out of ideas....

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden slam. Jumping in surprise, Yoshiko turned to face the direction of the abrupt sound.

"W-What?!" 

What she saw was extremely frightening. 

Her usually calm and composed companion was currently slamming her head on the wall of the tool shed, paying no mind to how much damage was currently being done.

What scared Yoshiko was more the expression the other girl had, and coupled along with her violent actions, it was enough to send shivers down her spine.

Gulping, she quickly grabbed Dia's shoulders, pulling her back.

"U-Um, are you okay?" Yoshiko carefully examined the older girl's face for any reaction. Her face was completely devoid of life, and it kind of reminded her of the faces Riko made sometimes.

After a few more moments of silence, Dia sighed and turned as if she didn't nearly break down a wall with her head. 

"I suppose we can set up a camp in here until the storm subsides."

And that was that.

 

-  
Dia was done with everything. Throwing some old papers in their makeshift fire, the two girls were currently waiting for the storm to die down. 

After her tantrum, she felt much more calm, and decided to actually get something done. After all, she did have experience with being in a situation where she couldn't do anything.

Sighing, Dia sat down, leaning against a wall and closing her eyes. 

While most people made it obvious that they were frustrated with the outcome of their trip to the island, Dia was one who decided that they would be better off trying to improve future experiences. 

That didn't stop her from feeling just a tiny bit of regret.

Seeing her dark expression, Yoshiko considered doing something to try and cheer her up. Well, that was easier said than done. After all, she was positive that Dia wanted to kill her most of the time. She still didn't know why though.

But, considering that it was Ruby's sister, she had to something.

Somehow.

"W-Why don't we play a game?"

Thinking about it, that was probably in the top 10 of things she shouldn't have asked.

A glare was enough for her to realize that.

Dia sat back again, eyes closed. She had enough problems, and playing games was the last thing on her mind. However...

Opening one eye, she could the dejected look on the other girl's face. Biting her lip, Dia sighed. It was always like this. 

"Fine, let's play a game."

 

-  
Dia's weakness was the fact that she couldn't stand seeing people be sad. It was simple, but she hated how easily she could be convinced under the right circumstances.

It was probably due to how much she pampered her dear sister, but those were the consequences of being a responsible older sibling. So, when she saw the dejected look on Yoshiko's face, despite how much she despised her, she gave in to her request.

Plus, it would ruin her reputation if she didn't help out an underclassmen. Well, that's what she told herself.

"O-One more time!" 

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

Though it was honestly depressing seeing how bad she was at Rock Paper Scissors.

"Honestly Yoshiko-san, I've never met anyone this bad." Chuckling at the first year's pout, Dia looked out the window. Despite her earlier protests, she felt much better.

Following her gaze, Yoshiko looked around nervously. 

"Do you think we'll have to stay here all night?" She hadn't brought anything, and it was by complete chance that they found the materials for the fire.

And looking at it, the floor was not a comfortable place to sleep.

However, Dia seemed less than worried. 

"Hmm, I suppose it wouldn't kill us to stay the night. After all, it's much safer than going out in that storm."

Before Yoshiko could ask about their sleeping situation, the older girl pulled out a sleeping bag from a seemingly random box. 

"How-"

"It seems there's only one bag."

Ignoring her confusion, Dia frowned and looked around. Obviously she would allow Yoshiko to take the sleeping bag, but if there was another way she could not sleep on the terribly hard floor, it would be preferable.

"Um, Dia? Dia-san?"

Flinching at the glare, Yoshiko gulped, bracing herself for the consequences of what she was about to suggest. 

"If you don't want to sleep on the floor, we could share the sleeping bag."

Dia stared at her as if she was insane. Sleep in the same bed? The only time she did that was with her beloved sister, doing it with anyone else was absolutely shameless.

After all, it was something she often criticized Mari and Kanan for. 

"A-A-Absolutely not!" 

After stuttering out a speech about how shameful everyone in Aqours was, Dia turned out the dim lights, and they prepared for the night.

However, laying down with only the sound of the snowy landscape to keep her company, Yoshiko was extremely frightened. 

She wasn't scared of the dark, but what awaited her in the night. After all, many horror movies took place in the mountains, and the last thing she wanted was to get killed.

Hearing a sudden sound, Yoshiko nearly jumped out of her skin. The tapping came from behind her. Too scared to turn around, she prayed that it was just some spare snowboard that fell.

However, the sound only became more frantic, and she had a terrible feeling. Turning around as fast as she could in the dim light, Yoshiko saw the face of a demon. 

"AHHH!"

Before she could scream anymore, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she heard an exhausted sigh.

"Could you not scream so late in the night?" Dia scratched her head, and began fidgeting. Sighing in relief, Yoshiko looked at the older girl curiously. 

"Is something wrong?" 

Blushing, the older girl muttered nervously. 

"Can I still take you up on your offer?"

This earned her a confused look, before Yoshiko realized what she meant. 

Stuttering out nonsense for a few moments, she nodded wordlessly and made room for her. After all, laying on the floor must have been extremely uncomfortable.

The silence that followed was probably the most awkward thing that had ever happened to her.

Feeling the unexpected warmth of another person, Yoshiko gulped silently. This would be the longest time she had ever been near someone in her life. Though she didn't expect it to be such a stressful experience.

However, Dia was just as thrilled. Or, you know, not thrilled at all. Thanking the darkness for hiding her beet red face, the third year considered death. 

What they were doing was absolutely shameless, and even if they needed to do this to survive, she hoped no one would ever know of this situation.

Finally, she settled down, and they laid in silence. 

Hours passed, but Yoshiko was painfully aware of the warmth behind her. This was the last person she wanted to share a bed with. After all, she would rather lay with someone sweet like Ruby. 

Actually, she would probably have a heart attack, so maybe not. 

Though she wouldn't mind getting a hug right about now, it would be her only comfort in this terrible situation. 

As if ignoring and answering her prayers at the same time, Yoshiko felt arms wrap around her and squeaked in surprise. 

"Ruby....."

Gulping, she realized what was happening. Dia was apparently dreaming. Smiling despite getting squeezed to death, she had to admire the older girl's protective nature.

"I'll protect you from that fiend Yoshiko..."

Oh. 

Smile fading, the pieces fit together, and Yoshiko knew why she was hated. It wasn't like she was doing anything terrible though. Frowning, she tried to think of something she did.

She did get Ruby sick that one time, but besides that, there was nothing that immediately came to mind.

".......your dear sister..."

Eyes widened in realization, and Yoshiko's smile returned. It seemed like she knew exactly what to do.

 

-  
"Oh my goodness!"

Opening her eyes slowly, Dia wiped the sleep out of eyes and yawned. For some reason she felt more well rested than she had for days.

Looking at her companion, she smiled. Asleep, Yoshiko was much more likable. Hearing a cough come from the door, Dia looked up and froze.

"Uh, are we interrupting something?"

Kanan and Mari stood in the doorway. 

Mari had her hand to her mouth in surprise, while Kanan stood awkwardly looking around. 

This was the start of a terrible day.

 

-  
After Dia had cleared all misunderstandings (Mari still teased her about it all day), the two returned to the mansion to shower and get ready for the day.

Standing at the base of the mountain, Yoshiko looked up and sighed. "Do we have to ride this conveyor thing up?" Nodding vigorously, Ruby grinned and grabbed her arm.

"Of course! It's to see the scenery!" 

Looking up in amazement, Hanamaru began jumping in joy. "I-It's the future, zura!"

Shaking her head, Yoshiko began walking to the gate, before catching a glimpse of the third years. Stopping, she realized this was the perfect chance to execute her plan.

"Huh? Yoshiko-chan?"

"Actually, Ruby, why don't we...."

 

-  
Dia stood, looking up at the lift curiously. This was one of the things that had always intrigued her. What was the point of riding it for the view? The mountain was visible from anywhere, so there wasn't really any point.

She was dragged here by her two childhood friends, but decided against going on with them. She'd hate getting in between their relationship. After all, they had gotten noticeably closer in front of everyone. 

So, Dia sat on a bench, looking up at the lift with a blank expression.

Not only was she alone, but even her sister didn't even want to do anything with her. Ruby was growing up much too fast, and it was something Dia was unprepared for. 

The more she thought about it, the more she hated Yoshiko. 

"Onee-chan!"

Before she could wallow in hatred even more, Dia looked up in surprise.

"R-Ruby?!" The redhead stopped, catching her breath with a smile. 

"Let's ride the lift together!" Dia looked at her, mouth agape. Was this really happening? Pinching her cheeks, confirmed that it wasn't, tears welled up in her eyes.

Grabbing her hand, Ruby smiled, pulling her up with a giggle.

"Onee-chan, even if I grow up, I'll always love you the most no matter what happens." 

Dia yelped as she was pulled into a hug. Feeling the tears on her back, she could only bite her lip. Barely managing to get words out, Ruby wiped the tears out of her eyes and smiled once more.

"So, don't be lonely without me, ok?"

And this simple sentence was enough to make Dia realize something. Even without her noticing it, Ruby had matured into a beautiful young women.

And Dia realized it was something she could be proud of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I was busy reading ChikaRiko fics. People make some damn good stories. Anyway, this was to kickstart a "relationship" of sorts between Yoshiko and Dia. Sorry if it felt out of place.


	5. Morning

2:00 am.

-  
All is calm, and the sound of silence fills the night. As everyone sleeps, there is one person who wakes. 

Eyes snapping open, Chika sits up and looks around. In their small hotel-like room, Chika looks at her companion, who in turn is sleeping soundly in her bed. Glancing at the clock beside her bed, she acknowledges the time with a sigh.

Unable to fall back asleep, she decides to roam the halls. Most restless nights in Uchiura were spent roaming the beach. However, the calm darkness of Mari's home was a fine substitute.

Like any other thing Mari does, the mansion is brimming with everything shiny, and Chika can't help but smile. She thought this constantly, but she would have to thank the blonde one of these days.

Entering the kitchen, she decides to drink a glass of milk. Maybe it would help rest better for the next day. After all, Dia had wanted to put in some practice, which no one could really disagree with. Switching on the lights, she grabs a glass and fills it.

Even the kitchen is brimming with excitement. Everything sparkles, and a window rests on the far wall, allowing her to see out into the winter wonderland.

Hearing the sound of light footsteps, she turns in initial surprise, before smiling.

 

-  
2:30 am.

"You couldn't sleep either, Ruby-chan?"

Nodding, Ruby grabbed a cup and sat down next to the older girl. "Y-Yeah, I've just been worried a lot lately." 

Chika grinned, nodding thoughtfully. It was understandable, after all her sister and one of her best friends were missing for a whole night. As if knowing exactly what she thought, Ruby looked down. 

"I-I mean it's not just that though, before the trip, I thought Yoshiko-chan hated me." Ruby wasn't sure what it was, but when she was around Chika, she had the urge to just speak her mind.

Raising her eyebrows at the sudden change in subject, the second year remained quiet, urging Ruby to speak. 

"U-Um, it's just that after I dropped off her gift before Christmas, she started acting weird." Fidgeting with her cup, Ruby looked out the window and exhaled slowly.

"It was strange, even though we made up already, I feel strange when I'm around her sometimes." 

Seeing Chika's confused expression, she quickly waved her hands, blushing. 

"I-I mean, I don't even know why we were fighting, and yet I was so relieved when she started talking to me normally again." Looking down with a small smile Ruby takes a sip from her cup.

"Like if Hanamaru-chan began ignoring me, it would hurt, but if Yoshiko-chan did the same thing......"

"You'd have no idea what to do."

Chika finished her sentence. Ignoring the surprised expression, she rests her chin on her hand, humming. 

She couldn't do much to help, after all, she was totally oblivious to other people's feelings most of the time, so what could she do? However, Chika felt that using what she had felt in the past would be enough.

After all, everyone in Aqours felt the same pain, the same emotion, and the same excitement. 

And that was all Chika ever wanted to convey.

When she had found out about Riko's piano competition, she had felt lost and almost betrayed. Why didn't she tell her?

When Riko told her that Aqours was more important, she felt relieved. However, Chika realized something, she had loved the piano just as much, didn't she?

So, after urging Riko to go to the competition, she had expected to feel happy. Instead, she felt lost and alone.

She didn't realize how much Riko had affected her life. 

And how much she relied on her.

Though Ruby's situation was completely different, Chika knew their feelings were the same.

A feeling of longing for a dear friend. Or even something more. Chika's eyes widened briefly, before closing just as quickly.

Standing up, she smiled at Ruby.

"You really like Yoshiko-chan a lot, don't you?"

At the younger girl's small nod, she continued.

"Then tell her."

 

-  
2:25 am.

Hanamaru couldn't sleep. Sitting up in bed, she looked around before sighing. Usually, she'd grab a book to read, but....

Looking at Yoshiko sleeping soundly in the bed next to her, she would hate to interrupt the others girl's rest. Especially after what she went through the other night.

Smiling softly, she shook her head. "Always getting into trouble, aren't you, zura." Grabbing a book, she yawned and headed out. She would feel more comfortable in a more open area. 

Walking down the peaceful corridor, her mind wandered towards her troublesome childhood friend. 

As children, Hanamaru had always admired Yoshiko with a passion. 

The fallen angel was a type of person that she had never met before. Fascinated with nearly everything as a child, it was one of the most exciting things to happen to the young temple girl.

When people made fun of her accent and verbal tic, Yoshiko was always there to help her. 

Even if her idea of helping was to do something even weirder to get their attention away.

So when her first real friend had disappeared and reappeared in her life, Hanamaru felt an emotion stronger than anything. Even her best friend Ruby immediately warmed up to her.

However, while she loved Ruby as a dear friend, Hanamaru felt a warmth from Yoshiko that she had never felt before. She didn't know what it was, but she knew that Aqours had plenty of time to explore their feelings for each other.

After all, they were only just getting started.

Stopping just outside the kitchen, Hanamaru heard a familiar voice and stopped.

"....You really like Yoshiko-chan a lot, don't you?"

"O-Of course!"

"Then tell her that."

Hanamaru's heart sank as she realized what it was she felt. However, what came with that realization was another emotion she had never experienced before.

 

-  
6:30 am. 

"Why did we have to wake up so early for? Couldn't she just give us at least two more hours of sleep?"

Yawning, Yoshiko sat in her comfortable temporary bed. She had just woken up from her slumber, thanks to Mari slamming pots and pans together in the hallway, and she honestly felt like doing nothing.

"Huh?" 

Catching her roommate staring into the abyss in the process of brushing her hair, she waved her hand in front of Hanamaru's face.

"Zuramaru?" Getting closer to her, she inspected her closely. In all of her years, she had never seen this expression on the temple girl's face before. 

"W-Woah!"

Hanamaru suddenly jerked back, causing Yoshiko to fall onto the floor spectacularly. 

"S-Sorry, Yoshiko-chan, I'll go down first, zura." Jumping up, Hanamaru grabbed her bag, dashing out of the room, leaving her roommate in confusion.

 

-  
7:00 am.

Running out into the hallway, Yoshiko hurriedly tied her hair into a bun. Even though she knew that her childhood friend was probably long gone by now, she still tried looking for her.

"Woke up late today, Yoshiko-chan?" 

She turned to see You, hair still damp, saluting.

"Ah, y-yeah. Have you seen Zuramaru out here by any chance?"

Tilting her head thoughtfully, You shook her head. 

"Not today, why?"

"Uh, no reason." It seems like she would have to find her later. It was weird though, Hanamaru had never acted this way before. Maybe she would ask Ruby if this was normal.

"How did you sleep, Yoshiko-chan?"

"Hmm, considerably well, considering."

Now that the initial uproar of the morning was over, the two girls walked down the hall leisurely. Making light conversation, Yoshiko was glad for the change of pace in her life.

The past days were surprisingly calm, which caused her to constantly brace herself. However, nothing had occurred, and Yoshiko decided to not be so wary. 

After all, besides the forced practice, it was still a vacation.

Stopping suddenly, You looked at her curiously. "I forgot to ask earlier, but were you okay spending the night with Dia-san?"

"Huh?" 

Looking back, Yoshiko considered her previous situation. Sure, she had to make sure not to say anything that would cause her to possibly die, but other than that..

"It wasn't too bad, if I just imagined her as Ruby, then spending the night with her was paradise!"

Laughing, Yoshiko suddenly froze as the atmosphere became tense. Hiding her blush, she realized that she probably said too much. After all, she didn't even know if Ruby felt the same way she did.

Yoshiko saw the redhead as someone she admired. Someone that was impossible to get despite being so close. Ruby probably just saw her as a friend. 

Though she didn't understand what that had to do with the sudden mood change. However, it ended as soon as it began, and You smiled. 

"I forgot something in my room, I'll see you at breakfast, Yoshiko-chan!" 

And she was gone.

 

-  
7:10 am.

You hated this feeling.

Jogging to her room, she bit her lip and cursed herself for disrupting the mood. 

She didn't know what it was, but at the mention of Ruby, she felt...

Jealous.

Slamming the door behind her, You sat on the floor and put her head in her hands. She hated feeling like this. Why was it so hard to get over these feelings? It was almost the same as with Chika, but for some reason...

It was stronger. 

When she was down, Ruby was there to pick her up, inspire her. And through all that up until now, You realized something. 

She liked Ruby.

 

TBC.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I have no excuses. On the other hand, it's almost Rin's birthday and I've been saving love gems. Also LLS! season 2. I decided to separate this arc into three short chapters just to try something different. Thanks for comments and kudos!


	6. Afternoon

12:00 pm.

Just outside the winter Ohara home, was a track field. Why? Well, that's what Riko had wondered the whole morning.

After a not so eventful breakfast, the student council president had forced them to jog around the estate three times to warm up for the day.

It didn't seem so bad at the time, but now that she looked at the size of building...

"I-I can't go on, zura..."

Stopping next to the exhausted first year, Riko smiled. Though she could probably manage, some people weren't so fortunate.

"Are you okay, Hanamaru-chan?"

"Ah, yes, I'm just a little tired." 

Tilting her head curiously, Riko took a closer look at Hanamaru's face. For some reason she seemed more, fragile than usual. 

She seemed to be more mentally exhausted.

Riko decided to walk with Hanamaru. After all, if there was a problem she wanted to be there for her. First, she would start out with some small talk. 

"Must be rough having Yoshiko-chan as your roommate." Riko figured if there was a reason why the other girl was tired, it was probably Yoshiko's fault. 

However, expecting a laugh and smile, she raised her eyebrows at Hanamaru's reaction. 

"Y-Yeah, it's a bit too much sometimes, zura.." Face turning red, the first year looked down. Riko's mind immediately wandered to the worst possible scenario.

"H-Hanamaru-chan, did Yoshiko-chan do anything to you?"

"Ah, no, of course not!" Waving her hands frantically, Hanamaru's blush deepened, making Riko only suspect something even more.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Hanamaru looked conflicted for a moment, before she sighed in resignation.

"U-Um, I think I like Yoshiko-chan, zura."

Not expecting what she just heard, Riko's mind began subconsciously denying every word that was said. "Oh, well I like Yoshiko-chan too, so what's the problem?"

Please don't say what I think you'll say, please don't-

"I have a crush on Yoshiko-chan, zura."

 

-  
2:00 pm.

Sitting on a hill, Riko stared blankly at the snowy landscape. Sometimes she would forget that they were on a vacation, considering how familiar everything felt. 

However, she was currently in a predicament. 

After being told Hanamaru's biggest secret, Riko agreed to not tell anyone, and excused herself by running away. 

Though relieved that she got out of that situation, during the afternoon practice, Riko felt her mind wander to the group of first years.

They were just chatting normally, but occasionally, she saw glimpses. Hanamaru biting her lip, or blushing when Yoshiko did something. 

There was something else though, something she wasn't told. 

Ruby.

Ruby did a better job at hiding it, but Riko still saw. Glances in her friend's general direction, deep sighs as if preparing herself for something. 

Riko didn't do good with relationships, she never had. But, thanks to her knowledge of romance novels, she knew what that meant. 

And she didn't like it one bit.

Shivering slightly, Riko pulled her knees closer and sighed. Why did she have to be in the center of their complicated relationship?

However, she felt partially responsible for this. The first years were young, and she knew if one of them got their hearts broken, it would not only hurt them, but it would hurt all of Aqours.

But how would she solve this problem? Riko knew that Ruby liked Yoshiko or Hanamaru, but Hanamaru liked Yoshiko, so who did Yoshiko like?

"I can't process this!" 

Rolling around in frustration, Riko laid on the hill and closed her eyes. Not even the third year's situation was this complicated.

 

-  
2:10 pm.

"A-Achoo!" 

"Are you okay, Kanan-san?"

"I think so, maybe I have a cold?"

Rubbing her nose, Kanan leaned back in her seat. She spent the day skiing, so it was possible that she had become sick.

However, maybe she shouldn't have said that out loud..

"Unacceptable!" Dashing in front of her, Dia grasped her shoulders, glaring. 

"If you were to become sick again, that would set a bad example for our underclassmen!" 

In the midst of her outburst, Kanan had wanted to tell her that their reputation was probably already ruined, due to the fact that Mari existed, but decided against bringing it up.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it, I think I'll be fine-"

From the corner of her eye, she saw something strange. Seeing Riko rolling around on a hill, Kanan stared at her curiously. She didn't know the younger girl very well, but that didn't seem like something she would do for fun.

"Kanan-san! Are you listening to me!?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I said I'll be fine, don't worry Dia!"

It seems like she would have to talk to her about it later.

 

-  
3:00 pm.

Chika sat in the lobby of the resort, exhausted from the day of practice.

It hadn't even been a whole day, but she felt like she just finished writing lyrics for a song. Which was harder than it seemed, okay?

Taking a sip from her soda, she had to wonder, how was Ruby doing? She had said that she would tell Yoshiko how she felt, and while she believed her, Chika knew that she wouldn't do it immediately.

"Hmm, though it seems kind of hard to consistently hide your feelings like that."

Closing her eyes and leaning back, Chika sighed. She didn't know what it felt like to have a crush. After all, her only love was made up of two words. School and Idols.

However, she could only imagine how hard it was. Especially for someone so young. It's like the first years were more mature than everyone else.

"C-Chika-chan? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Opening her eyes, Chika nearly leapt out of her chair, though she efficiently head-butted Riko.

Actually falling out of her seat this time, she looked up teary eyed. 

"O-Ow, Riko-chan, you can't surprise me like that."

Extending her hand to help her up, the other girl in question glared in response. "It's your fault for getting startled by something like that!"

Pulling herself up, Chika sighed and smiled apologetically. "S-Sorry, I was thinking. What did you want to talk about?"

Suddenly becoming nervous, Riko gulped, looking around.

"U-Um, can we talk somewhere else?"

They quickly found an open music room that Mari apparently had, making themselves comfortable. 

Looking around in amazement, Chika felt a somewhat familiar atmosphere. It was almost like..

"Like the chats we have back in Uchiura, right?" 

Riko smiled at the ginger's surprised expression. "I found this a few days ago while wandering. It reminded me of my room a little." Seeing Riko sit down at the piano, Chika couldn't help but grin. She seemed so natural. 

Resting her hands on the keys for a moment, she shook her head and turned to Chika. 

"There's something we need to talk about. It's about Hanamaru-chan."

 

-  
3:20 pm.

Riko needed to tell someone, maybe they would help her. However, she didn't know who. So, like always, she wandered to the one person who could always give her an answer. 

Taking a deep breath, Riko exhaled, bracing herself for what was to come.

"Hanamaru likes Yoshiko-chan."

Shutting her eyes, Riko feared to see Chika's reaction. Though it wasn't like she was actually telling Yoshiko herself, she sure acted like it.

Hearing something fall, she opened one eye, seeing a very pale Chika. Looking down, she saw her previously full soda can, now emptied all over the ground. 

"Chika-chan?" 

She continued to become even paler. Making her wonder if she needed any medical attention.

"B-But, Ruby likes Yoshiko."

Riko stared at her as if she was insane. Did she hear right? Chika was just tired, so she was probably just talking nonsense. 

However, Riko knew what she heard was real, and she realized that this was not a situation for the two of them to handle.

"Wait!" 

Flinching at the door getting slammed open, both girls turned in surprise to see the last person they expected to be there.

"Kanan-chan?!"

Ignoring the shout and running down the steps two at a time, the third grabbed Chika's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Is it true, Chika?"

A wordless nod was all she needed.

 

-  
5:00 pm.

Kanan glared at the sky. 

What a absolutely terrible excuse for a vacation. Okay, maybe this situation would've happened no matter what, but did it have to happen during their vacation? 

They were currently running around the track again, to "cool down" as Dia said. However, Kanan was not concentrating on running. 

After both Chika and Riko told her about the situation, she realized that she was the one who needed to take charge. Kanan didn't know much about crushes and such, but she knew how friendship worked.

And she knew that it would possibly get ruined if the right scenario presented itself.

"Kanan-chan, what's up?" 

Thankfully, she came up with a temporary plan. They would get as much information from every first year and their relationship with each other. After all, they still had no idea who Yoshiko liked, so it was still a wildcard at this point.

"Kanan?"

"Huh?" 

Shaking her head, she turned to see You, keeping up with her quick jogging pace as always.

"Sorry, spaced out for a moment there."

You laughed and shook her head. "You were glaring pretty hard at the sky there, what's wrong?"

Kanan chuckled. Leave it up to You to keep her spirit up. However...

"It's nothing, I was just thinking that Dia was overdoing this training thing a little too much."

She couldn't bring anyone else into this situation. Sure, talking it out would probably solve some problems, but making it a bigger deal would only cause more trouble.

As much as she trusted You, they had to keep it between the three of them. 

You nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, sometimes I'm surprised Ruby's even related to her."

Kanan flinched, quickly recovering. 

"Y-Yeah, Ruby-chan's pretty sweet compared to her stern sister."

You chuckled and looked up at the sky.

"I suppose so. If Dia-san's the stern, bright sun, then Ruby-chan is the quiet moon."

Kanan merely nodded, looking up at the sky. If Yoshiko liked Ruby, then what You had said would mean something else entirely. 

Both thought it, unaware of the others predicament.

If Ruby was the moon, people would be mesmerized by its beauty. Falling in love with its mysterious light and aura.

 

-  
7:00 pm. 

The three girls met in the music room. They didn't know why, but it was set up as their base of operations, whether they like it or not.

The oldest of the three stood, exhaling deeply. Looking at her comrades, she nodded.

"It's time."

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riko finally makes a major appearance! Yep, apparently she didn't have enough suffering from the last story. Anyway, the last part of this arc will be up soon! Thanks for the kudos/comments!


	7. Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the support on my new fic! For the people who didn't ask for a new fic, here's the final part to this arc.

7:30 pm.

Chika stood outside the room of two first years. While she had agreed to talk to Hanamaru, it didn't make her any less nervous. 

During dinner, the three talked about a strategy on how to deal with the situation. Knowing that they couldn't actually "deal" with it, they decided to talk to the first years alone to see what they thought about each other.

Since Chika had already talked to Ruby about it, and Riko had confronted Hanamaru, they decided to switch it up to avoid suspicion. With this in mind, Kanan was left to talk to Yoshiko.

After all, one slip of the tongue and everything would be ruined. Chika wasn't very good at keeping secrets either, so thinking about it, this was the perfect recipe for failure.

Shaking her head, Chika exhaled. If she thought like that, then they had no chance for success. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door.

 

-  
7:37 pm.

Riko was not having a good time. 

After barely being able to digest her dinner, the trio had separated quickly, set on their mission. 

Though she had put up a good front, Riko was nervous. 

"I-I'm not feeling very well, m-maybe Chika-chan will forgive me if I just don't talk to her." She muttered to herself, pacing.

She was probably too nervous to function if she was being honest. In her doujin, when people interrupted relationships no one was happy. 

And while they weren't in a manga, Riko didn't want to be responsible for ruining Aqours relationships. Closing her eyes, she imagined what Chika would do in her shoes. 

Knowing the ginger, she would probably be sweet and understanding. After all, she was someone you could always rely on.

Smiling softly, Riko opened her eyes, determined to finish the mission.

 

-  
7:33 pm. 

"Ah, Chika-chan! What are you doing here, zura!"

Putting on her "everything is totally fine" face, Chika smiled at the younger girl nervously.

"I just thought we could hang out some, after all we haven't really had a chance lately." 

Looking in the room behind her, Chika glanced around for Yoshiko. If she wanted to talk to Hanamaru, she needed her alone. Thankfully, she was nowhere to be found.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

"Ah, sure thing." Walking into the room, Chika felt like she was the one being interrogated, despite the younger girl's innocent, harmless smile. 

Taking another deep breath, Chika turned and smiled.

"I brought a board game! Why don't we play?" 

Well, she had to give herself props for coming up with such a foolproof plan. After all, who could say no to a nice game of monopoly? 

Setting up the board on the bed, Chika's other reason for this was to find an easy way to bring up the other first years. And because she really wanted to play monopoly, and Riko always said no when she tried.

"Do you play board games often? Maybe with Ruby or someone else?" Noticing Hanamaru's confusion with the pieces made her genuinely wonder about what the temple girl did in her time. 

"Well, I did play once with Ruby-chan, but I wasn't very good, zura." 

That was exactly what Chika needed to hear.

"Hmm, you really like Ruby-chan, don't you?"

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden topic change, Hanamaru closed her eyes, considering the question. Grinning, Chika internally congratulated herself. Her whole plan relied on this one thing. 

Did she even come up with a back up plan? No, but her initial one worked, so who cares? Opening her eyes, the first year started to respond.

"Of course I do. Ruby-chan is everything I want to be." 

"She's my best friend, and I don't know where I'd be without her, zura." Shaking her head, Hanamaru smiled bitterly. Remaining silent, Chika had to wonder, was Hanamaru jealous? If so, why? 

Sure there were times where Chika had seen someone who she aspired to be, but she didn't hold anything against them about it. And she was positive someone as young and innocent as Hanamaru wouldn't either.

Unless it was about....

"Anyway, shall we get started with the game, zura?"

 

-  
7:40 pm.

Riko walked in, looking around curiously. Since Ruby had been sharing her room with her sister recently, she had expected the younger girl to be accompanied by someone.

"Onee-chan said she needed some fresh air, so she stepped out for a bit." Ruby suddenly began looking worried. 

"Did you need her?"

Riko couldn't resist a chuckle. Sometimes Ruby was too cute. "It's fine, I needed to talk to you alone anyway." 

Internally sighing in relief, she was glad. She had come up with a plan just in case Dia was somewhere in the vicinity, but Riko preferred a situation with the least amount of stress.

"O-Oh, okay. Would you like something to drink at least?" For some reason, Ruby seemed to be far more high strung then usual. 

"Yes, that would be nice." 

Before she could scurry off, Riko made sure that the redhead was okay with what was happening. After all, she did come unannounced. 

"Oh, and Ruby-chan?"

Turning around, Ruby looked back stiffly.

"Don't worry, it's nothing terrible or bad, so you can relax." 

Smiling reassuringly, Riko was glad she had to talk to Ruby. They had gotten closer and she was happy with their friendship. 

But, that would make this talk so much harder. 

Nodding happily, there was a visible change on Ruby's face as she skipped to the miniature fridge for the drinks. 

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Riko sighed and smiled bitterly. She'd have to get to it eventually. 

"How's the vacation been for so far, Ruby-chan?"

The question made her jump, and she managed to stutter something out.

"W-Well, um, it's been great so far!" For some reason it didn't really seem that convincing to Riko. Though she felt like she knew why. Sighing, Riko stood up. She was at her limit now, and she was going to get answers out of this girl even if it was the last thing she would do.

"Ruby-chan, be straight with me, why are you nervous right now? And don't lie, Chika told me everything."

Nearly yelping at the older girl's sudden shouting, Ruby looked up, blushing nervously. 

"I-I-I um, I think you should calm down a little Riko-chan, ha ha ha..."

The glare she was given was enough to make her tell the truth. Fidgeting, Ruby looked around the room. She didn't expect anyone else to know what she would be doing. Well, at least it was Riko who found out and not someone else.. 

"I-I like Yoshiko-chan. A lot. Like I really love her, and I don't know if she likes me back, a-and it scares me-"

Before she could continue her rant, Riko embraced her. Holding her tightly the older girl whispered in her ear soothing words.

"It's fine, Ruby-chan, it's fine."

Riko bit her lip. Just as she suspected.

 

-  
8:00 pm. 

"Ok, so like this?" 

"Perfect! Yohane-chan, you are a natural!"

"S-Stop it, stay still, Mari!" 

Jenga was an intense game of concentration. It required 50 percent luck and 50 percent skill, making it a very worthy foe for Yoshiko. Putting even more pressure on her was Mari. 

As Yoshiko took extreme measures to take a piece out, there was a sudden knock on the room door. Ignoring it, the two girls concentrated on only one thing. The game. 

But, alas, all things good must come to an end. The tower crumbled, and Yoshiko cursed the gods.

"NOOO!"

"Oh, my god!"

Mari watched in horror as the once fearsome demon cried in agony. Gingerly placing a hand on her back, she shook her head, tears welling up. "There will always be a next time.."

Their shenanigans were interrupted by another, more urgent, knock at the door.

"Oh! Coming!" As if nothing had happened, Mari leapt off the bed, and sprinted towards the door. Opening it, she was surprised to see a certain someone there.

"Kanan!" 

Tackling her with a hug, Mari rubbed her face on the other girl's chest. Sighing, Kanan shook her head and peered into the room. Seeing the grieving first year, her eyes lit up, and she forced herself into the room.

"Yoshiko, we need to talk." 

Noticing the unusually stern and serious expression, Mari pulled back, worry in her eyes. "What's wrong, Kanan?" 

Kanan shook her head, and attempted a smile. "It's nothing, I just need to talk to Yoshiko alone is all." She said, patting the blonde's head affectionately. 

Looking up in confusion, Yoshiko stared at the older girl. Being the exact opposite of both Mari and Dia, Kanan was carefree, yet refined and caring. This being the case, Yoshiko had no idea how to act around her. 

"If you want to say something, you can say it in front of both of us!" Puffing her cheeks, Mari stepped in front of the two, glaring down Kanan. Looking at her in surprise, the bluenette glared back.

Sparks flew between them, and Yoshiko had absolutely no idea what was happening. Thankfully, Kanan sighed and glared at the two once more.

"Fine. But don't complain about it later."

Looking at Yoshiko straight in the eyes, she walked up uncomfortably close. 

"Yoshiko, Hanamaru likes you."

Silence. 

"Like really loves you a lot."

Unable to process the words, Yoshiko continued to stare into space, until Mari exclaimed loudly.

"Oh! Really?" Kanan nodded in confirmation, looking at Yoshiko apologetically for the up front way that she said it. She had thought it best to get her true feelings in the quickest way.

Face turning red, Yoshiko finally began showing signs of life, stuttering out nonsense. "W-What? How did, why would she-" Putting her head in her hands Yoshiko couldn't believe it.

Zuramaru liked her?

That sweet and innocent girl had fallen in love with her. She should've been happy, really, but she had no idea what it felt like to fall in love. But, when Yoshiko thought of what it would be like to romantically go out with someone, her thoughts automatically wandered to..

Gasping in realization, she paled, before turning to face the two waiting third years.

"I-I think I love someone else." 

Staring at her, the two looked at each other repeatedly, before yelling in unison.

"W-What?!" 

Mari ran up excitedly, jumping up and down. "Who is it, who is it?" 

Kanan, opposed to Mari, paled. 

"R-Ruby?" Before Yoshiko could answer, she spoke up, causing the two to look at her in surprise. The first year nodded wordlessly, and Kanan turned away, biting her lip. Chuckling dryly, she shook her head. A love triangle? Seriously? The one thing she least expected to come out of this?

"U-Um, what are we going to do?" Finding her voice again, Yoshiko began stuttering.

Glaring at her, Kanan sighed. "You mean, what are YOU going to do." 

"Huh?"

Kanan shook her head. As much as she wanted to help, it wasn't her place to interfere with their relationship. Though she felt bad that Hanamaru had to suffer because of it, it was necessary for everyone that they figured this all out. The most she could do was comfort her in case it went bad.

"This is your problem Yoshiko, and you have to deal with it. I'm sorry." 

Yoshiko looked at Mari, pleading for help. The usually energetic girl merely smiled apologetically. Looking at the door and gulping, she made up her mind. 

"I'm going to tell Ruby I love her."

 

-  
8:30 pm.

Riko laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling absentmindedly. So much had happened throughout the day, she had to wonder, did she really help anyone at all? Sure, she had talked to Ruby and Hanamaru, and it seemed like she did something, but in the end it was just her being there, listening.

She didn't give any groundbreaking advice, but instead turned to others to help her with someone else's problems. If Chika were in her shoes, she would've done a whole lot more. That was just the way she was.

"Ah, I'm so tired!"

Speak of the devil.

Entering the room with a yawn, Chika smiled at her warmly. Sitting on the bed, she laid next her.

"C-Chika-chan, you know this bed can't fit two people." 

Ignoring her protests, she moved even closer, humming contently. "It's fine, don't worry Riko-chan! After all, we're best friends, right?" 

"F-Fine."

Riko sighed in resignation. She could never win when it had to do with Chika. As they laid in comfortable silence, Riko could clearly feel the ginger's warmth as they cuddled. Looking at her, she blushed slightly. 

Why did Chika make her heart race?

"How did it go with Ruby-chan?" 

Looking at her in surprise, Riko remembered the conversation she had with the first year. Shaking her head sadly as she remembered the redhead's breakdown, Riko bit her lip. 

"She loves Yoshiko-chan so much, and you can see it plain as day." 

Chika nodded, a slight smile on her face. "So does Hanamaru-chan." 

As they laid there, Riko had to wonder, was this what the two felt when they were with Yoshiko? Was she just as transparent?

Chika's smile faded a bit.

"You know, I never expected things such as crushes when I started this idol group. Though looking at it now, it was bound to happen."

She turned and looked at Riko, the smile returning. Riko's heart began beating faster. "I have no idea how to deal with it though. It could bring us closer or tear us apart. "

Her voice began breaking down, and Riko's eyes widened.

"I don't know anymore!" 

Tears began welling up in Chika's eyes, and Riko gasped. What was she thinking? Here their leader was suffering, and what was she doing? Riko pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around the sobbing girl.

Chika had never experienced this before, so how did she expect to help the others? The whole time, all she was doing was comparing love to something as simple as a passion for idols. But she was stupid. This was something totally different, and she couldn't do anything.

"R-Riko-chan, I-I'm worried..."

Through her tears, Chika started speaking, pulling her companion closer. 

"I can't do anything to help, a-and I'm worried!" Hugging her tighter, Riko shut her eyes briefly. Chika was always her strength and inspiration. In times of worry, she was always there.

But this time, Riko would be her's.

"Chika-chan, you've already done enough. Even if you don't know it, you've done more than anyone has. And everyone knows that." Whispering soothingly in the ginger's ear, Riko wiped her own tears.

"And they love you for that. I love you for that." Pulling away from the hug, Riko looked at Chika's face, still red with tears. Smiling, she wiped them away. 

"So don't bring yourself down anymore, ok?" 

Chika nodded, smiling genuinely now. Riko smiled back, eyes wandering to the other girl's lips. Would Chika let her? Moving closer, she closed her eye, before...

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Riko leapt off the bed, which would've been fine, if she didn't knock Chika on the ground in the process. 

"I-I got it!" 

Wiping the tears from her face and fixing her hair, Riko opened the door, forcing a smile. "K-Kanan-chan, how did it go?"

The older girl looked extremely annoyed. "Well, as good as it could've gone. Now we just have to see what happens. Mind if I come inside?"

"O-Of course, come in."

Looking into the room, Kanan raised an eyebrow at the sight of Chika, who was currently struggling to get off the ground whilst wiping tears from her face. Looking back and forth between Riko's unusually red face and Chika's innocent, confused smile, she shook her head. 

"On second thought, I'll just talk to you guys tomorrow." 

"Huh?" Noticing that Kanan's eyes seemed to be putting some kind of dots together, Riko waved her hands frantically. 

"K-Kanan-chan, it's not what it looks like!" Before she could present her case, the older girl had already run away. Collapsing on the ground, Riko cursed herself. What had gotten into her? Putting her hand to her chest, she could still feel her heart beating quickly. 

Just then, before Kanan had shown up, she was about to...

Riko blushed, putting her head in her hands, rolling around on the ground. She was about to kiss Chika. Just the thought of it was too much for her.

"Riko-chan, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Let's go to bed!"

"Huh? But it's still early.."

"W-Who cares, go to sleep!"

Yeah, this was certainly an eventful day for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next time, confessions and heartbreak.


	8. Chapter 8

Riko picked at her food absentmindedly. It was now a new day, and the investigation trio decided that it was best not to get involved anymore. 

While Chika had many complaints, Riko was a little glad. After all, now she had her own set of problems, which conveniently had to do wth the ginger.

Staring at her from across the room, Riko couldn't help but notice things she hadn't noticed before. The way her laugh was so genuine, the way her crimson eyes lit up when she was happy, those were things that only made her seem brighter.

"Riko-chan, are you okay?" You waved her hand in front of the other girl's face. Looking bad and forth between the two, she tilted her head in confusion. 

"Ah! Y-Yeah, I'm fine." 

Ignoring her strange reaction, You turned her own attention to the now separated first years. Unlike the other days, the three friends were sitting across the room from each other.

Yoshiko was attempting to play jenga with Mari, Hanamaru talking with Kanan, and Ruby...

You's eyes wandered to the younger girl, who was currently chatting with Chika about school idols excitedly. The redhead seemed more fragile than usual, troubled even. Her emerald eyes darted around, occasionally resting on Yoshiko or Hanamaru, before coming back to Chika, before starting over again. 

She would have to talk with Ruby later if she wanted to figure out what was going on.

The two girls sighed in unison. Love was so troublesome.

 

-  
Yoshiko paced back and forth in her room. After breakfast, the first thing she did was bolt back to her room to prepare herself. Putting her hand over her heart, she was painfully aware of what she felt. When she thought of Ruby, her face would grow hot, and her heart would throb.

"I guess this is love then..." She murmured, laying down on the bed. And to make matters even worse, Zuramaru had liked her. Sure, Yoshiko loved her, just not in the same way she loved Ruby. It was hard to explain.

Which was actually the name of her life story. 

Hearing the door open, Yoshiko looked at the door, eyes wide. Oh no. Hanamaru entered, and upon seeing her, the two froze. 

Silence enveloped the room. After a long moment of silence, Yoshiko stood up, ready to bolt out of the room. 

"S-Sorry Hanamaru, I had to get some stuff. I-I'll see you later." However, before she could move past her, Hanamaru grabbed her arm. Looking at her, seeing the sadness in her eyes, Yoshiko's breath caught in her throat.

"You called me Hanamaru." The shorter girl said, staring her straight in the eyes. Yoshiko looked at her confused, and began stuttering nervously.

"R-Really? I-I didn't notice. Anyway, I have something to do, Zuramaru, so I'll see you, ha ha.." She trailed off, and her eyes widened as she saw tears well up in the shorter girl's eyes. 

Yoshiko bit her lip. Looking at her made her chest hurt. Seeing her childhood friend so fragile, and being the reason why. What could she do to fix this? 

"Zuramaru, I-"

Hanamaru shook her head, attempting a smile.

"I'm fine Yoshiko-chan, really." She turned away, hiding her tears. Yoshiko didn't know what to do. Looking down, she left the room.

Walking out into the hallway, she closed the door behind her, collapsing on the ground. Leaning against the wall, Yoshiko stared at the ceiling. What could she do? She didn't want to destroy the relationship that the first years had, but not saying anything would only further hurt them. 

Yoshiko bit her lip. 

Though in the end, someone would have to get hurt.

 

-  
Something was wrong.

Dia frowned, looking at the girls in front of her. It was their last day of the training vacation, and she had gathered everyone around for one last speech. However, the atmosphere felt wrong. No one was cracking jokes or complaining about training.

The usually enthusiastic You had her eyes down, drifting every so often, but correcting themselves to the ground just as quickly. Almost like she didn't want anyone to know what, or who, she was looking at. Mari was standing there awkwardly, shrugging every time she was looked at. Kanan had a constant glare, fixed on no one in particular.

As for everyone else...

There was a tension between them, akin to how You was. It was as if they were all strangers again. 

Chika raised her hand. 

"Um, Dia-san, could we have this day off?" Figuring that Chika just wanted to slack off, she was about to say no, before seeing the ginger's expression and stopping herself.

The younger girl's eyes were filled with worry, and Dia bit her lip. Whatever the situation was, it was something important, and Chika had wanted to resolve it.

"Fine." 

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and Dia gave a small smile. "It's the last day, so have some fun." 

As everyone wandered away from the meeting area, Dia decided to confront Chika on everyone's strange behavior.

"Chika-san?"

Looking at her in surprise, Chika scratched her head, embarrassed. "S-Sorry for making you cancel the practice like that."

Dia smiled and shook her head.

"It's fine, I'm sure you had your reasons." She said, raising an eyebrow.

Chika chuckled nervously, before sighing and looking at the rest of the group. The only thing they could to fix this was to talk. Though it frustrated her to no end, she accepted that she couldn't do anything.

"Dia-san, could you help me with something?"

 

-  
Yoshiko paced back and forth, looking around nervously. Standing on top of a snowy hill, she was called here by Dia to talk.

Now if that wasn't enough to make her nervous. For all she knew, Dia was going to murder her. After all, they were in an isolated area, so it's be easy to hide a body. 

Well, that wasn't a good thought. 

"Y-Yoshiko-chan..?" 

Jumping up, Yoshiko turned around, ready to beg for her life, before realizing who it was. Seeing Hanamaru's confused face, she paled in realization. She was set up.

"Z-Zuramaru?! What are y-you doing here?" 

The shorter girl looked away, twisting her hair and bitting her lip. "D-Dia-san asked me to come here." Looking at her in disbelief, Yoshiko sighed and sat down on the hill. 

Hanamaru sat down next to her, and the two sat in silence. 

Yoshiko didn't know what to say. Just like this morning, she couldn't express what she really felt. And it was slowly hurting their relationship.

When they were young, the two girls were best friends. Being the odd ones out, the two expressed their strange habits with each other, accepting whatever the other did. 

Yoshiko was grateful, of course she was. After all, Hanamaru had a special place in her heart, and when they were finally separated, it hit her harder then she had anticipated. 

Meeting the small, technologically inept girl again at the beginning of the year was a blessing, and she couldn't have asked for more. 

"Yoshiko-chan, I love you." 

But it was more then that. Hanamaru had helped her meet even more people. When Yoshiko had refused to go to school, Hanamaru had given her confidence. 

Looking at the hope and fear in Hanamaru's eyes, Yoshiko smiled gratefully. 

When she was scared, had nothing to rely on but her fallen angel persona, Hanamaru had showed her the wonders of school idols. 

Yoshiko saw tears well up in the shorter girl's eyes.

At one point, maybe she would have fallen in love with her instead of Ruby. 

"Zuramaru..." She shook her head. "No, Hanamaru." Standing up, Yoshiko looked out into the distance. 

"I can't go out with you." Looking back at her, Yoshiko saw what she expected. Hanamaru was crying, biting her lip to avoid full on sobbing. 

However, it was different now. She could find the words to say. The words to fix this.

Even if she didn't love her, Yoshiko wanted the best for her. No matter what happened, she would help Hanamaru in every and any way. Not just to apologize. But to thank her.

"Zuramaru!" Hanamaru yelped in surprise, as Yoshiko grabbed her hands and pulled her off the ground. 

Now that the two were facing each other, Hanamaru saw the expression on her face. It was something she had never seen before, and she could only stare in confusion, tears in her eyes. 

"I'm sorry, but I love someone else." Feeling a sharp pain in her chest, Hanamaru flinched. Before she could turn away, tears welling up again, Yoshiko grabbed her hands.

"But, even if I fell in love with Ruby, you've always known me the longest, right?" Yoshiko grinned. 

"You know I'm hopeless, and I know you're hopeless too. We know each other the best, and I'll help you, I swear." Hanamaru saw the determination in her eyes, and looked at her in shock. 

Squeezing her hands tighter, Yoshiko felt tears well up in her own eyes, but forced them back.

"Even if you push everyone back and hate me, I'll be there." It was too late. Before she realized it, Yoshiko felt tears streaming down her face. 

Even she knew that the moment she fell in love with Ruby, everything would change. 

"So, please." Yoshiko looked at Hanamaru, attempting her best smile.

"Don't hate yourself."

Yoshiko hugged Hanamaru, something rare of her to do to anyone, surprising her. It was the last straw. It was like a dam broke, and Hanamaru began sobbing. 

"I-I'm so sorry!" Hugging her as tightly as she could, Hanamaru began apologizing, rubbing her face against the other girl's shoulder. Smiling, Yoshiko shook her head. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who rejected you."

And as they stood there sobbing, Yoshiko promised that she would help Hanamaru. 

To pay her back for her friendship.

 

-  
Riko paced inside the lobby, looking at the clock occasionally. After a while of laying in the snow and thinking about things, specifically a certain ginger, she had decided to go back inside.

Though she had decided to relax, Riko was pacing around for some reason. It was a habit of hers to be unable to experience peace in times of stress, so it was probably that.

What she had realized the night before, was that love was something that you didn't realize until someone told you. Hearing how much Ruby had loved Yoshiko made her realize that she felt the same way about Chika.

When did she first fall in love with Chika? The more she thought about it, the more Riko realized just how much the ginger had done for her. When you were in love with someone, you learn to appreciate things you've never noticed, as well as enjoying every second you spend with them.

One thing Riko despised about love was that she was now a nervous breakdown every single time she saw Chika. Before, she could speak to her like a normal person, but now every time she saw her, she would lose all sense of speech.

As if she wasn't already a nervous breakdown...

Before she could wallow in self despair anymore, Riko saw You out of the corner of her eye. The ashen-haired girl was wearing someone else's winter gear, along with Chika's weird orange winter mask she would wear occasionally.

Riko had done something like this before, and she knew that You was trying to hide her identity. She didn't know why though, after all, You was one of the most carefree people ever. Why would she find the need to sneak around?

You walked out of the door to the mansion, and Riko considered following. Well, it would get her mind off of something else, and she was pretty curious as to what You was doing...

Shrugging, Riko walked out as well, making sure to follow the other second year closely. 

After a while of tailing her, Riko had to wonder, did You like someone? She didn't expect her to, but considering the first year's situation, it was entirely possible.

Despite being one of her closest friends, Riko never knew what You was thinking unless she said it. She was good at hiding her feelings, which wasn't always a good thing. 

Riko suddenly backed up, hiding behind a conveniently placed mound of snow, as You stopped and clenched her hands together. Laying in the snow to hide herself, she listened to the ashen-haired girl's mumbling.

"It's fine... all I have to do is say I like her, what's the problem? If she rejects me, that's fine, I can deal with that.." Riko didn't believe what she was hearing. 

You was preparing to confess to someone.

If Riko had a cup of tea, it would've fallen straight out of her hands.

"It's just Ruby-chan...I love... okay..."

If it was possible, Riko would've died right there. 

 

-  
You didn't know what came over her. 

That morning, she decided to just talk to Ruby, but by the time she began to make her way, she realized something. 

Why did she like Ruby? 

You had never realized what made her fall in love with the redhead. But thinking about it now, it was the millions of things that the first year had done.

When she first saw her, You payed no mind. While Ruby was cute, she was just someone she would occasionally talk to. 

She had a good fashion sense, and the two were on good terms. Nothing more than that. 

But, after a while, You started opening up.

It was something she didn't do for anyone. Some things that she had thought were just for her. She didn't want to show weakness for her friends, and she wanted to be as cheerful as she could be. Just like Chika.

Ruby was the first person she opened up to. For the first time, she had seen a side of the redhead she had never seen before. Instead of the usually frail and nervous girl she usually was, Ruby was confident.

She was radiant, and pushed You along when she had lost confidence in herself. Seeing that side to her made You interested in the first year. She wanted to know her more. 

And as she got to know her, You began to notice the little things that made Ruby so endearing. Her cute laugh and smile. The way she unexpectedly glared when she was serious. 

Before she knew it, You was completely enamored. 

Having only one experience with a crush before, and wanting to forget the pain of it, she focused on Ruby. However, knowing that the first year might not like her back...

You shook her head. What was she doing? Here she was pitying herself. If she got rejected, no problem. They would be friends like always. 

That's what she told herself, at least.

Before she could think about it more, she looked up in surprise to see Riko. Her golden eyes looked around frantically, and she stopped in front of You. 

"R-Riko-chan?" Trying her best to sound as casual as she could, You took off her mask. 

"Y-You-chan, I really, really need to talk to you. Alone." Riko begged her, whispering in hopes that no one would overhear them.

Looking at her in confusion, You shook her head. "What's wrong, Riko-chan? Can't we talk here?" 

Riko flinched and looked away.

"W-Well, I can't really-"

Before she could continue, the two girls were interrupted.

"Can we talk, Ruby?"

Hearing a voice that was obviously Yoshiko's, Riko grabbed You, pulling her behind the mound of snow. Peeking out, Riko saw the two first years and gulped. If they were doing way she thought they were doing....

"O-Of course. What is it, Yoshiko-chan?" 

Yoshiko scratched her head, before chuckling in embarrassment.

"Well, it's a little complicated..."

Riko resisted the urge to bury herself in the snow. Knowing exactly what was happening, she looked at You, who in turn was unusually pale.

Sighing, Riko looked at the first years in worry.

If things weren't already messed up enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting! This chapter was another first of sorts for me, and I don't really know how to feel about it. Anyway, I hope I can get the next chapter out faster!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to think this takes place before season 2. Give some development to Riko and You's relationship.

Chika sat at a table, humming a happy tune. 

"Chika-san?" Dia walked up, sitting next to her. 

"I did what you asked, now would you mind telling me what's going on?" With a small apologetic smile, Chika nodded. It was too late anyway, nearly everyone had gotten involved.

Though, maybe it was better this way. After all, she didn't want to hide anything from her friends. It would be better to let everyone figure out their problems. After explaining everything to the third year, the reaction Chika got was unexpected. 

"I see..." Dia bit her lip, putting her hand to her chin. Chika looked at her in confusion. Wasn't she going to freak out about her beloved sister? As if reading her mind, Dia smiled sadly.

"Ruby's not a child anymore, and I already suspected as much." Her eyes darkened again. "Though I had no idea the others felt that way as well.." 

"Next thing you know, you'll fall in love with someone." Chika said jokingly, in attempt to lighten the mood. Dia smiled and shook her head. 

"I don't have much time for love. I'm too focused on Love Live at this point." Chika grinned even wider. Throwing an arm around the older girl's shoulder, she couldn't help but to tease her.

"I can tell. After all, it's always practice, practice, practice." Loosening her grip, Chika sighed. "Though I'm not much different. Love Live is everything I want."

Dia chuckled. Despite their obvious differences, she was glad that Chika was the leader of Aqours. Though the second year could be, well, eager at times, she was the one who brought them all together. And she was almost as enthusiastic about idols than Dia was.

Almost.

"Honestly, making me lie like that. I have a reputation to uphold!"

After struggling to get the ginger off of her, Dia looked out into the distance, worried. Knowing what her sister was doing, anyone could tell that Ruby was way more mature than she was. 

She chuckled dryly. Ruby was always the rebel of the family after all.

 

-  
Riko looked at You's face in panic. Looking between the first years and one of her best friends, she couldn't believe that she would be in the middle of something so important.

What were the chances that You would be in love with Ruby? And that Yoshiko would confess to Ruby right as You was about to? If that wasn't bad enough, Riko was caught right in the middle of this bizarre triangle.

"I-I have to go." You stood up in a haze, her legs wobbling. Grabbing her hand, Riko pulled her back. "W-Wait, You-chan!" Whispering fiercely, she froze as You's blue eyes focused on her.

"What do you want, Riko-chan? You know about me and Ruby, don't you? Then just let me leave!" Riko stared as she saw You's pleading eyes, and bit her lip. Why was she stopping her anyway? It wasn't like she could help.

However, Riko knew that leaving her alone was possibly the worst thing to do. 

She smiled bitterly as she was reminded of Chika. It was all her fault that she got involved after all. That's just how much she was influenced by her. 

"I-" Riko stopped. Taking a deep breath, she focused. Staring at You with newfound courage, she began speaking.

"I think you should tell Ruby how you feel. Even if she rejects you, you'll still be friends right? It'd better to get it off your chest." You looked at her in disbelief, before biting her lip and narrowing her eyes.

"Do you even know how hard it is? To love someone who will never love you back?" Riko flinched. Her words were dripping with venom. She couldn't help but wonder what pain that You was hiding from them this whole time. 

But she still couldn't give up. 

"You-chan, I don't know how you feel, but-" 

"Of course you don't, you're one of the reasons why she never loved me." The cold air seemed to freeze even more as the tense silence enveloped them. 

"W-What do you mean?" Riko could tell that this was no longer about Ruby. But what did she ever do to hurt her? They were friends.

You lowered her gaze. "You always hung out with Chika-chan ever since you came here." 

Riko's jaw dropped. "W-Wait a second-" before she could continue, a timid voice began speaking.

"W-What is it, Yoshiko-chan?" Hearing Ruby's nervous voice, Riko looked at You with a worried look. Whatever You was talking about could wait. For now, they'd have to see what was going to happen.

That's what Riko told herself at least. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly the problem was with her friends.

Sighing, she shook her head. This was another day that was just full of surprises.

 

-  
When Yoshiko had first called Ruby, she had done it with full confidence. With the mindset of "I have to do this no matter what," Yoshiko was fully prepared. But like most things, when the two were finally face to face her mind went blank.

The two girls stared at each other, only the silence accompanying them. The silence was unlike anything, awkward and tense. Finally, after a long moment, Ruby spoke.

"W-What is it, Yoshiko-chan?" With these quiet, simple words, Yoshiko gulped. Remembering what happened with Hanamaru, she took a deep breath, steeling herself.

Before she had left to talk to Ruby, her childhood friend had stressed that if she hurt the redhead, she would face the consequences. Yoshiko believed her too. She could never imagine hurting Ruby.

Remembering this, she took a deep breath and looked the redhead straight into her eyes. "Ruby, for a while now, you've been one of the greatest friends I could ever ask for." 

At this point, anything Yoshiko said wouldn't mean much would it? She had already poured her heart into her talk with Hanamaru. Along with all her heartfelt words being used earlier, being extremely nervous certainly didn't help.

Yoshiko began fidgeting nervously looking around. Do you ever want to say something to someone special, but can never find the words until it's too late? Well, she didn't want that to happen now. 

However, before she could steel herself to say the words she needed, Ruby began speaking, to her surprise.

"Yoshiko-chan, do you remember what happened at the day of the bookstore incident?" Wordlessly she nodded, and Ruby continued. "Well, it was one of the first times just the two of us hung out."

She looked out into the distance, a whimsical smile on her face. 

"Even though I'm probably scarred for life from what happened, hanging out with you is something I'll always treasure. And you did it all to cheer me up, so why wouldn't I enjoy it?" Yoshiko looked away, blushing. Giggling, Ruby smiled. That was something that she found endearing about Yoshiko. 

Even if she said she didn't care, she would always try and cheer you up anyway. Even if she tried her hardest to deny it. That's just the way Yoshiko was.

A few feet away, Riko couldn't suppress a smile. It was strange to see Ruby so different. To think that this was the same nervous girl that Chika could lure out with sweets. 

You smiled sadly, lowering her voice. "That's how it is with Ruby-chan. Seeing the good in anyone." Riko tilted her head, no saying a word. Seeing the usually cheerful girl act so vulnerable was still a surprise, but she could agree with what was said.

Ruby brought herself down, seeing nothing good inside of herself, but seeing everything good about her friends. The bookstore incident being a prime example. 

That being said....

Yoshiko was the perfect person to be with Ruby, though Riko wasn't going to say that out loud. Just as how Ruby saw the good in all, Yoshiko did as well, just in her own way. 

Especially when it came to her friends. That was why she tried so hard for Ruby. And slowly but surely, the two brought the best out of each other.

Ruby looked up again with a smile. "And before I knew it, the more we hung out, the more I changed. During the island trip, we were so worried." 

She bit her lip. 

"I felt like I couldn't do anything to help." Yoshiko opened her mouth slightly, before stopping herself. She knew that anyone would tear themselves apart in a situation like that. 

"But, when I saw that You-chan felt the same way, I realized something." Ruby blushed slightly. "Even someone as confident as You-chan can lose confidence in themselves. But before I knew, I was the one cheering her up. And I think you were the one who gave me that confidence." 

Riko felt her companion tense next to her. Biting her lip, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. What could she say? The person she loved never thought of her romantically at all. You just fell victim to a hopeless situation.

Ruby looked at Yoshiko, a light blush on her face. "And I don't know if I can give that confidence to you." 

Riko's jaw dropped, and You looked just as surprised. And the expression on Yoshiko's face was something that probably would've been hilarious in a different situation. Was Ruby...?

"I'm sorry Yoshiko-chan, I can't go out with you." 

Yoshiko stared at her in disbelief. This was the perfect time to ask someone out, and before she could even do it, she was rejected. "W-What?" Her brain couldn't even process it. 

Riko nearly stood up and shouted, but just barely resisted the urge. This was the exact opposite of what she expected to happen. 

Before anyone, namely Yoshiko, could start having a mental breakdown, Ruby waved her hands frantically.

"T-That came out wrong!" She looked away, before sighing. "I just think I'm not ready for a relationship!" 

Ruby rubbed her head, blushing heavily now in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Yoshiko continued to stare at her with a look of utter confusion.

"We're still young, and everyone will know and tease us about it, and we still have Love Live to focus on, and-" As the redhead rambled on, Yoshiko realized why she was rejected in such a way.

Ruby was focusing on her future. With Love Live so close, could any of them afford to be in their own little world? With this realization, Yoshiko suddenly began chuckling. With her face still red, Ruby smiled as well.

As the two laughed, Riko sat on the ground with a tired sigh. That was exactly it. She wouldn't want to bother her with Love Live so close. Telling her now would only distract her more. 

Unexpectedly, You began chuckling. In response to Riko's confused expression, she shook her head. "She's right. All I've been doing is following after other people." You grinned at her. "I'm going to give up on her." 

For some reason, Riko didn't feel relieved. As her friend got up, Riko saw a glimpse of sadness, and before she realized it, she had grabbed her arm. For a second, You's facade cracked, and she looked at her in confusion. "Riko-chan?"

Riko bit her lip. What had come over her? It was You's choice if she wanted to give up. But for some reason, she just couldn't allow her to walk away. 

"Don't give up." Silence enveloped them, and You looked at the pleading golden eyes. 

"Why do want to help me?" She didn't understand. 

Riko looked away. "I-I'm not trying to help you. I just don't want to see you give up." This earned her an even more confused look, and she flushed in embarrassment.

"T-The point is, they're not going out. I don't want to say this, but you still have a chance." Riko couldn't even believe what was coming out of her own mouth. She was grasping for straws, because one thing she didn't want was for You to resent anyone. 

This whole time, she was hiding her true feelings, and if there was one thing Riko wanted, it was for You to trust her. Like a real friend. In response to this, You looked away in uncertainty. "I-I, we'll talk later okay?" 

And she was gone.

As Riko sat there in silence, she cracked a tired smile. It seems like she was influenced a bit too much. 

Riko watched the two first years chat and sighed. The sun was setting, and their vacation was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! Sorry for the short chapter, just wanted to update you guys on some stuff. For a while I lost my creativity (big surprise, I know), so after a break, I decided to end this arc in a way that would allow me to have fun in later chapters. It's not the best, admittedly, but I hope I can write more diverse chapters in the future. 
> 
> I didn't want to become an author that takes years to update a story, heck some of my favorite fics I read were never finished. So I'm truly sorry, and thanks for the support.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the biggest shitpost I have ever created. Anything that happens in this chapter will not have anything to do with the next chapter. You've been warned.

The ocean. Loved by many, but a lot of people could agree that Kanan loved it the most. Which was a reason why winter wasn't something she articularly liked. Sure, there were good things like snow, but that didn't really make up for the lack of diving. 

Diving. 

It was one of Kanan's favorite hobbies. But with the unbearably long winter, there was no way she could dive into the freezing water. She even tried it before. Well, not intentionally. It was a long story.

So instead of diving in, she decided to be content with staring out into the ocean. Their ski vacation was over, so it was nice to spend some time enjoying the sea once again. Especially after what had happened over the last few days. 

As the sun began rising, Kanan pulled her jacket closer to her, exhaling warm air into her hands. Though January was nearly over, the weather seemed to be getting colder, and she couldn't help but wonder about the group of first years. 

After hearing about an unconventional confession from Riko, she had noticed that it seemed like nothing had changed. Like everything that had happened never happened. When she had asked about it, Riko had said that she was just as surprised. Apparently they decided to focus on more important things.

She couldn't help but chuckle. Though it was unexpected, it was certainly in character of the three youngest to do something so out of left field. Spontaneous was the word she'd use for them. 

"Ka~nan!" 

Speaking of spontaneous, the peaceful atmosphere was completely shattered by the shouts of Mari. Kanan frowned, before quickly switching to a smile. "Mari, what are you doing here?" The blonde stopped abruptly, and Kanan looked at her in confusion.

"What was that face you made, Kanan?" Mari crossed her arms, glaring. Looking up in surprise, Kanan looked away. 

"I-I didn't make a face." She said unconvincingly. Mari puffed her cheeks, "Yes you did! It was just like this." before making an incredibly over exaggerated frown. 

Kanan glared at her. 

"I did not make a face!" 

"You did!" 

"Did not!" 

"Did!" 

"Did not!"

"Yes Kanan, you did!"

"I. Did. Not."

"Yes. You. Did!!"

"Hmph, you have no proof!"

WILL YOU TWO, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BE. QUIET!?"

The two suddenly stopped, and a wild Dia appeared, absolutely furious. Kanan hadn't noticed her before, so she must've arrived right as the two began arguing. 

As silence enveloped them, the only thing that could be heard was Dia's heavy breathing. It seemed like she ran all the way here. For a while, the other two stood there in awkward silence, waiting for Dia to catch her breath. Their eyes met, and they knew that they were in danger.

When Dia had finally caught her breath, she exploded. 

"Mari-san, do you know how long I have been shouting your name?! And yet you still abandoned me!" Well, that explained a lot. Mari chuckled nervously, attempting to lighten her mood. "I-It's joke?" However this only caused Dia to further dwell into madness. "Do you think this is funny?!" 

While she was yelling at Mari, Kanan decided that this was her chance to sneak away. However, as she began casually walking away from the two, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Kanan gulped nervously, turning around slowly. 

"Y-Yes?" Dia's glare burned holes through her skull, and Kanan shuddered. Sometimes she forgot how terrifying her friend could be. Was Ruby really related to her? "Where do you think you're going, Kanan-san?" 

"Uh.." 

This was the moment that Kanan knew that she wasn't going to live through the rest of the year. "What did you think you were doing?! Arguing with Mari-san about the smallest things, what are you, a child?!" Dia stopped, huffing just as much as she did when she had arrived. 

And then, silence. Dia's expression was blank. Kanan wasn't sure if she should've been less, or more scared. Finally, Dia sighed and walked away.

The remaining two stood in silence, before Mari spoke up.

"You did." 

Kanan glared furiously. 

"No I didn't!!"

And so, the two bickered all morning.

 

-  
Chika and Hanamaru were drawing. 

In the very amazing Aqours group chat, Chika had commented about how she had wanted to improve her drawing skills. For some reason being good at calligraphy didn't really help in that regard, to her dismay. 

Aside from a few comments, no one had said anything. However, a few hours later, Hanamaru had commented. She had typed it so it was nearly unreadable, but apparently she had said that she wasn't that good at it either.

So, Chika had invited her to a drawing session.

The two were currently at a restaurant, doodling whatever came to mind. Though they were seriously drawing for a while, they kind of gave up. After Chika had "mistakenly" drawn a boat that looked suspiciously like Shiitake, their drawings slowly became worse.

"Look Hanamaru-chan, it's Rikotake!" 

"Whoa, that's incredible!" 

Chika had transformed Shiitake into Riko. Or was it the other way around? Well, it was something interesting, to say the least. 

After an intense session of "transform Aqours members into animals," the two had ordered food. As Chika watched Hanamaru consume all the food as fast as she could, she couldn't help but wonder something. 

"Hanamaru-chan?" The first year looked up from her food, her mouth full. "Hmmhf?" 

"You seem, different." Chika didn't expect her to answer. After all, with all she had been through, it was understandable. Bracing her self to be rejected, Chika waited patiently for Hanamaru to finish.However, unexpectedly, her eyes had lit up. "Really?! You noticed!" 

"Huh?" Chika looked at her, confused. Noticed what? "My verbal tic! It's gone, zura!" To this, Chika smiled uncertainly. Did she just start doing it again on purpose? 

"B-But you just started doing it again. You literally did it in that sentence where you said you didn't do it." Chika had expected her to smile and call it a joke, but instead her eyes widened.

"What, zura?!" Hanamaru looked genuinely worried, and Chika tried to comfort her. 

"W-Well maybe you just stopped because of complicated things were in the trip?" After all, with all the dramatic stuff that had happened, adding a cute zura would kind of take away from it. Well, Chika wasn't an author, but it kind of made sense. 

"Ah!" Hanamaru did the little thing where it was like she was about to play rock-paper-scissors. What was that called? Like, BAM, I know what it is! Yeah, she did that thing.

"It's like a story, zura!" Chika was only getting more confused. Not noticing her confusion, Hanamaru continued. "If this was a story, I'd say that my verbal tic would be taken out for two chapters or so. And then, it would come back when the dramas over, zura!"

Chika sat there with her mouth agape. That was, uncomfortably detailed. Deciding that life was a bit too much to think about at the time, Chika resumed drawing. But for some reason, she couldn't concentrate. 

She looked at Hanamaru, who in turn was happily drawing Ruby as a, uh, helicopter thing. She honestly had no idea what it was. "H-Hey, Hanamaru-chan? I have a question." The younger girl looked up innocently. 

Chika took a deep breath and exhaled.

(TRIGGER WARNING: to ignore, skip until the paragraph ends.)

"Do you ever wonder why we're on this earth? People are born every day, fulfilling their dreams right? Like me, I want to be a school idol, that's my dream. But I only acquired this dream in my first year of high school. After that moment, that's all I wanted to do. But that's the thing, what do I want to do after this? After love live is over, after the third year's graduate, no one knows. This is my life, saving the school, going to love live, but when am I going to think about bigger things? My life, my family, my job. How will I change this world with what little I've been doing? What if this world was fabricated? What if every single person here was created by someone, and we're all characters with specific character traits in order to make us interesting? In order to make us special. What if we only serve as entertainment for the beings that create us? And the reason we're so messed up, is because our creators aren't giving us proper character development? Isn't development needed for any story? No matter what anyone does, they'll never be able to create a character that acts as a normal human. Because they don't want to have a normal human. They want to have characters that do cute things that wouldn't be right when humans do it. They want to have characters that aren't truly human, because no one wants any more humans then we already have on this planet. Because this world is messed up and the only thing that saves it are fictional characters. But since these characters are created by humans, the development they have ruins them as fictional characters. The romances and friendships are decided by the creators, but the creators give other humans rights to decide what the friendships mean themselves. Like Nozomi and Eli from Muse. They're shipped together for their friendship, and romantic undertones. Hell, I think that's a bomb ass ship. Even if you didn't ship it, it's been been integrated into the fandom so much, that you have no choice but to accept it. The same could go for Nico and Maki. Hell, is it just me, or do they have like zero noteworthy interactions that make them a ship? At least in the anime. Sure there are a few times they talk and progress their friendship, but is there really anything romantic? I think that's the real beauty of NicoMaki. The fact that the creators started the friendship between them, leaving it open ended, means that more people can create scenarios that make it possible for them to get together! But isn't just lazy writing? Leaving characters you've created for others to do what they want with them? There is so much potential in Maki and Nico as characters, that there is nearly an infinite amount of ways you could see their relationship. Now that is fucking awesome. But this brings up a question. What exactly is a ship? If you ship two people, metaphorically, it means that those two people are on a boat of sorts. And then their relationship floats towards beautiful, beautiful romance. But what kind of large ship would only carry two people? You would need to use a row boat for that to make any sense. But then again, every ship eventually sinks, doesn't it? This makes every ship not matter in the end. There is no god. By the way, it's at waifusageofthewest. If there is, it is the creator, who has caused good characters to get not so good relationships with others. To have one character out of a cast of eight others, only interact with two of them. Why do we focus on love live so much? That's everything for us. But what's even more important, is the relationships we build going towards that goal. But that's the thing. With so many people in a show, the creators have only managed to improve relations between a few people, leaving other people the same as they were at the beginning of the series. Why? What's so hard about creating relationships between fictional characters? Like god damn, was it so hard to give us a SUB UNIT EPISODE in season 2 of lls? Yeah I fucking noticed, what the hell! Riko could've gotten that character development, assholes! We'll never know why it's so hard for creators to give us the simplest things. And that's exactly it! We'll never know because we're not the creators! We don't know if they're restricted by law to give characters terrible character development. All we know is that in Nisekoi, he should've picked the obvious best girl, Onodera. And that's all we do! We just want our ship to "sail" so everyone can agree that Rem was the best girl, and Emilia can go die in a fire. But the fact that we ship a certain person with another person, makes us unconsciously hate the other person who could possibly be shipped with this person! I don't hate Chitoge in anyway! But for some reason, when I think about how much I love Onodera, I can't help but dislike her. Hell, so much we do is wrong. I might as well put my tumblr url randomly in this long ass paragraph to see who really reads it. Which will be no one. No one at all. And you won't know until you get this far. That's just how life is. As a matter of fact, the only thing you'd get out of this is the satisfaction that you proved me wrong. But then again, I'm just shamelessly self promoting myself, so what can I say? And this makes me wonder, do you ever think that one day, AI will be so advanced, that the cute anime girls that exist in this world will fall in love with who they want? Will write their own story? Their own show? That they don't care what the fans want? Then maybe one day, the fucking main character from Nisekoi will, of his free will, pick Onodera. Or Tsugumi. Hell, even maybe Marika. I don't even know, I'm sorry Chitoge. But that's also an extremely valid point! What if the people don't want advanced AI, because they want to feel like they're in control! The cycle continues and continues, because in the end, we're all just in a shitty anime, with horrible character development, and the only thing that can save it, is cute anime girls."

 

Chika slowly opened her eyes. She was currently standing on the diner table. The table was a mess, and Hanamaru was nowhere to be seen. People stared at her in fear.

She pulled out her phone. It had been 30 minutes. She had been talking for 30 minutes straight.

Pulling up the camera on her phone, she saw that her hair was a mess, and she was covered in sweat.

Checking her text messages, she found that she had a text from Hanamaru and her mother. 

Mom: why are the cops here?

Maru-chan: Chka-chn, hte bll ws arleady piad. Pls get sme rst you wree scring me.

It took Chika a few minutes to decode the unknown language, but she finally figured out what it said. "Chika-chan, the bill was already paid. Please get some rest, you were scaring me." Chika muttered the note out loud. 

Shrugging, she hopped off the table, wondering about the other text. Why were the police at her house? Did she do something? 

She walked out the restaurant, deciding that maybe she did need some rest. When she had finally left, a head poked out of the kitchen. 

"I-Is she gone?" Whimpered a waitress. The manager peeked out her head, and sighed in relief, before glaring at the waitress. 

"Never let that crazy high school girl into my restaurant ever again."

 

-  
The sun was setting, and two girls were studying for a test. 

Well, they were in different grade levels, so it was more like a tutoring session if anything at all. 

Riko and Ruby had decided that a nice and calm study session was a great way to forget about everything that had happened. So, after talking about it for a bit, they decided to hold it at Riko's house.

Riko stopped writing, raising her arms above her head. When she finished her brief stretch, she snuck a glance at the redhead beside her. She was concentrating really hard, and Riko wished that a certain ginger had spent time doing just that.

Heck, and when she was concentrating, it was mostly on school idols, or, um, what else did Chika enjoy doing? Whatever. Anyway, she should've spent more time studying instead.

Riko put down her pencil, looking at Ruby once more. "Hey, how's it going with Yoshiko-chan?" Ruby stopped writing and looked up in surprise. She was blushing, shaking her head. 

"I-It's not, we're not, um." She stopped, putting her head down on the table. Riko stifled her laughter. Despite the fact that the two of them had decided to remain friends, Ruby still blushed at the mention of the other girl.

"I-I'm going to the bathroom." Ruby stood up and exited the room.

Before Riko could say anything, she was gone. Did she go too far? It was cute though. How Ruby cared so much about others.

Riko began writing again, deciding to wait for Ruby. As she sat there, her mind began to wander. Did she ever get to interact with any of the third years in season two? Before she could think about it more, the door opened. 

Riko was about to welcome her back, before freezing in place. Ruby was holding one of her most prized possessions. A yuri doujin. It could've been anything else, but there were no other objects she could possibly care about more.

Plus her yuri obsession only showed up briefly in season two, so.. 

Instead of looking at her in disgust, Ruby looked at her in confusion. "Riko-chan, what are those two girls doing?" 

"Huh?" 

Riko couldn't believe it. Ruby had no idea what was happening on the cover of that book. So, instead of taking the book back by force, Riko decided to tell her a well directed lie. 

"Well, they're obviously giving each other candy." 

Ruby frowned. "With their mouths?"

"Uh yeah, a lot of children do that nowadays, it pretty childish." Riko felt sweat go down her back. 

"Then why are these adults doing it?" 

Um, to show kids not to do it." Yeah this was going pretty well. As long as Ruby didn't open-

"What are these girls doing then?" Ruby had flipped to a random page in the book, and it took all Riko had not to scream. "Uh, heh, they're cleaning each other with their mouths, i mean obvious." 

"Hmm.." Ruby flipped to another page, and frowned. Despite literally having no idea what was going on, she sure seemed extremely interested in that book. "What are they doing now, Riko-chan?"

"Each other." 

Well, that's what was really going on, but she couldn't say that out loud. Oof. This was going to be tough. "Ah, um, well..." Yeah she had nothing. 

"Well, Chun-Li and Cammie are practicing their gymnastics. Yep. They're naked because it helps them be more flexible." 

Before Ruby could do anymore damage, Riko grabbed her shoulders, gingerly leading her out of the room. 

"Well, that was fun, see you later!" She tried her hardest to hide the extreme fear and panic in her voice, but it was sometimes hard to do that, believe it or not.

"B-But my stuff!"

"I'll give it to you later, bye!"

Riko sighed, sitting down and leaning against the door. Thank god Ruby had found of the less graphic novels. Or else she would've been screwed (heh, get it?). She would've found out about her vore fetish. Hahahaha, no that wasn't funny, please ignore that. Yeah, ok end story.

And that was just another day for Aqours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more backstory on this. I go through this process when I shitpost. I get an idea that's extremely stupid. I think that's a good idea. I'm probably wrong. Anyway, this chapter was like the "Intermission" chapter from City of Sin. Except, way worse and it has nothing to do with the story. Someone please stop me.


	11. Chapter 11

Still in her school uniform, Riko sat at the piano. Sometimes she would get the urge to play, and today was one of those days. As she began playing, her mind wandered. This was another reason she loved the piano. She could put all of her thoughts and feelings into it.

And today, she felt something strange.

Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling, thinking of the spring. The flowers, the smell of the grass, the harvest of oranges. Oranges....

An image of a certain girl flashed through her head, and Riko missed a key. And another key. And another one. Eventually she stopped playing, hiding the blush on her face with her hands. What was wrong with her? 

She was thinking about the girl more and more. It felt a little unhealthy. 

"Riko-chan, are you okay?" 

Riko screeched, looking across the balcony to see exactly who she was thinking about. Chika stared at her, wrapped in a blanket. Her hair was a mess, so Riko assumed that she must've just gotten out of bed.

"Ch-Chika-chan?! Where were you today?" Riko asked, ignoring the feelings in her chest. The other second year wasn't at school, which was strange enough considering how much she hated not making it to practice. Chika chuckled, scratching her head in embarrassment. "Well, I hate to say it, but I got kind of sick." 

Chika waved it off like it was nothing. "Anyway, are you okay? I heard you playing the piano." Seeing the ginger's worried expression, Riko felt her heart skip a beat and looked away, face red. "I-It was nothing. I just got a little distracted." Chika tiilted her head, but smiled anyway. 

Riko sighed, looking at the music. She remembered when she loved playing the piano more than anything else in the world. Now she loved being a school idol. And it was all thanks to the girl who just so happened to be her neighbor. "Hey, Riko-chan?" She looked up, her face still a bit red, to meet Chika's soft smile. 

Riko knew that look. It was something that she had seen many times after moving to Uchiura. It was something she loved.

"Can you play the piano for me?" 

Without answering, Riko smiled back, turning back to the piano. When she had first started playing for Chika, she was afraid that she would be too nervous and mess up. But the first time she had touched the piano in front of her, all of her fear disappeared. It was strange. Chika always seemed to make her worry less.

And this time was no exception. 

As Riko began playing, she closed her eyes. The song she was playing was the same as before. The same as when Chika told her to go to the competition. The same as when Riko had told her...

At the time, she had said that in the moment. She was almost sure that Chika thought nothing of it. After all, she didn't even think much of it herself. But now she was sure. She really meant what she said. The more time she spent with Chika, the more she noticed how much she truly liked her.

How much she loved her.

But...

As Riko began playing the final section, her thoughts wandered. Did Chika even like her back? Were her feelings one sided? 

She kept playing.

Did it really matter though? Riko was content with staying Chika's friend. She would rather be friends than have their friendship ruined if she said no. Was she really content with that?

She kept playing.

Riko knew Chika. She knew when the other girl tormented herself. She knew when the other girl felt lost. She knew that Chika cared about her friends. She knew that Chika loved Aqours more than anything in the world. But why couldn't she figure out what Chika thought about her? 

Riko played the last note, only now realizing that she was crying. She wiped her eyes, glancing across the balcony. She prayed that Chika had left during her performance. However, she knew that was impossible. When Riko turned, the girl was still there, the same soft, beautiful smile on her face.

Chika saw that she was crying, looking at her with a worried and slightly panicked expression. "Riko-chan?! D-Did I do something again?! S-Should I jump across?" Before Chika could prepare to launch herself across the balcony, Riko waved her off with an attempted smile.

"I-Its nothing, Chika-chan. I'm just a little tired." 

They both knew that wasn't true. However, before Chika could argue any more, Riko stood up from the piano. She darted out of the room, and the ginger was left alone.

Chika reached out longingly, and for the first time, nothing touched her hand.

 

-  
"Hmm.." 

"Chika-san?" 

"...."

"Chika-san!" 

Chika looked up, surprised at the sudden shout. "Y-Yes?" Dia glared at her, before sighing. "This paperwork isn't going to do itself." The second year nodded apologetically, and the two continued their work. 

It had been a full week since Chika had recovered from her cold, and since she had skipped practice, Dia had forced her to do some student council work. Of course, the younger girl had no problem with it, and it had started out all right. However, as they went on, Chika became noticeably distracted. 

While Dia had waved little mistakes off, she was getting impatient. Eventually, she decided to confront the ginger about whatever distracted her from their important work. "Chika-san, is there something bothering you?" Chika jumped a little, not expecting the question. "Not particularly...." She muttered, looking down at the papers.

Dia raised an eyebrow. This was definitely out of character for her. After all, Chika never hid anything from her friends. So whatever this was, it must've been something extremely important to her. 

"Hmm, might it be that you like someone?" Chika flinched, looking at her in terror. Dia was taken aback. Was it so unusual for her to crack a joke in a while? She was almost emotionally hurt by the girl's reaction, but then a thought struck her.

"Wait, so you do like someone?" Chika shook her head, chuckling forcefully. "N-No, I was just kind of surprised that you'd ask something like that." Chika scratched her head nervously, worry still plain on her face.

Dia began staring at her, and Chika looked away. Sighing, Dia shook her head. "You know, you're really good at listening to other people's problems. However, you don't seem to be that good at telling others about yours." Chika opened her mouth to protest, but stopped. Realizing that she had no way out of it, she sighed. 

"I-I think Riko-chan's ignoring me." Chika's face reddened, and she looked away. "I know. It seems childish, but lately I feel like she's distancing herself from me." Dia's was stunned. That was a lot for her to process. The two were best friends, so to think that something tore them apart was a little frightening. 

However, Dia couldn't help but to chuckle. Looking at her in disbelief, Chika began pouting angrily. "Dia-san! I'm serious!" The older girl shook her head. "I-It's not that. I just didn't think you'd worry about something like that. You'd usually talk to her directly, right?" 

Chika nodded sadly. "I know. It just seems like she doesn't want to talk to me. Did I do something wrong?" Dia sighed again, tapping the tip of her pencil on the desk. "Did you do something wrong?" That was the obvious question, but Chika shook her head frantically. 

"N-No! Or at least, I don't think so..." The ginger started fidgeting, and Dia realized that this was the first time she had seen her act like this. Chika seemed more self conscious of her actions. "Well, the last time she spoke to me, I asked her to play the piano for me. I-I mean we do it all the time, but for some reason...." 

Chika looked like she was about to cry, and Dia was taken aback. She knew that the two cared about each other, but for just the simple fact that Riko wasn't talking to her to make her act like such a mess? 

Dia looked at the younger girl's timid expression. She really didn't want the girl to make a face like that. It reminded her of Ruby. And it was an expression that didn't fit Chika. 

Chika continued. "When she had finished playing, she was crying..." Dia raised an eyebrow. Crying? Out of anger? No, it didn't seem like it. Though Dia did suspect something. "Chika-san, what do you think of Riko-san? It seems to me that you care a lot for her." 

Chika nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She gave a small smile. "Of course I do. She's one my best friends, and her being a Tokyo girl is a bonus!" Dia couldn't help but to chuckle. Chika began writing again, a small smile on her face. "I haven't known her long, but I trust her completely. I mean, she's someone I can talk to about anything, despite being the exact opposite of me. She always makes me feel at ease with her piano playing."

Dia watched the younger girl's eyes. When she talked about Riko, they lit up the same way they did when she talked about Love Live. Dia knew that this wasn't simple admiration. It was something that she had felt long ago. Something that she had long since come to terms with. 

"You really love her, don't you?"

Chika became silent, staring down at her pen. Dia frowned uncertainly. Was that really the wisest decision? Love Live was so close, and even Ruby had decided to wait before making a decision about Yoshiko. Wouldn't something like this make things even more complicated?

Dia shook her head. No, it was different. These two were pushing each other away, unsure of their feelings. Chika and Riko were unarguably the most important members of Aqours. Chika held the group together, and Riko was a big help in composing songs. With these two out, how could they get anything done?

After a long time, Chika spoke. "Yeah, I love her a lot. I can't stand the fact that she isn't talking to me." Silence followed, and Dia shook her head. "I don't think I can help too much with this." Chika looked up, ready to protest. Dia raised her hand, showing that she wasn't finished. "But I could try and get her to talk for a little bit." 

Chika's eyes lit up, and she smiled brightly. "Thank you, Dia-chan!" As she was tackled by a hug, a huge grin spread across Dia's face. It was something that she'd probably never show anyone. "D-Dia-chan?!" Chika smiled again. "I though you liked being called Dia-chan?" She said teasingly. 

The third year forced her off, the trace of a smile nowhere to be seen. "It's fine, Dia-san is fine." Her face was red, and she was looking away. Chika began giggling, and picked up her pen. "We should probably get back to work, Dia-san."

Dia nodded, coughing. Why was Chika the leader of Aqours again?

 

-  
It was after school. Hanamaru spent most of the afternoon helping arrange books in the school library, so the sun was already setting. However, instead of leaving, she sat at a table far into the library. Hanamaru stared at a book, not processing the words on the page.

It was unlike her, really. To be alone. Usually, all of the first years would gather in the library, talking about ideas for songs, (most ideas being completely outrageous, thanks to someone) or just complaining about being unpopular (though that was just Hanamaru and Yoshiko, Ruby always tried to convince them that there was no need to be popular).

Lately though, Hanamaru preferred to be alone.

She was used to it. After all, she used to always be alone. And while nothing had seemed to have changed between the three, she felt the wall between them. Maybe it just her though. Maybe she was just pushing them away. 

So while Ruby had invited her to hang out, Hanamaru politely declined, saying that she had to organize the library. It was true. She hadn't been here for weeks, so there was a lot to do. Even she did finish in less than an hour. She sighed, putting down her book. She would usually read books to get her mind off of things, but for some reason it just wasn't working.

Hanamaru put her head down, shutting her eyes. The silence was comforting, if just a little lonely. Just as her mind began drifting off, she heard footsteps outside the door. The door opened, and Riko stepped in. Her face was slightly red, and she seemed awfully distracted. 

Seeing the first year sitting at the table, Riko bowed apologetically. "I-I'm sorry, Hanamaru-chan, was I interrupting you?" Hanamaru shook her head. "No, it's fine, zura. I was just resting a little." The redhead nodded, an uncertain look on her face.

"Um, do you mind if I stay here for a bit?" Hanamaru's eyes widened. That was something she didn't expect. "Oh, um, it's fine, zura." Riko nodded gratefully, and began looking for a book. The younger girl sighed, picking up her book again. It wasn't strange for Riko to come to the library. In fact, she was a regular. 

But Hanamaru had expected the girl to be hanging out with someone like Chika or You. After all, not many people stayed at school during the afternoon. They had no practice today, so no one from Aqours would be staying either. Well, besides Hanamaru. 

Riko grabbed a book, sitting across from her. Hanamaru looked up in surprise, before quickly turning back to her book. How long was she planning to stay here? She didn't mind, but didn't someone as popular as Riko have other people to hang out with? 

Riko noticed her expression, tilting her head quizzically. "What is it?" Hanamaru shook her head apologetically. She hadn't realized that she was staring. "N-Nothing, zura. I was just thinking that you'd bring hanging around someone like Chika-chan right now." At the mention of the ginger's name, Riko's face reddened. 

"Uh, well, I just kind of felt like being alone today." Riko attempted a smile. Silence filled the room, and Hanamaru began staring at the redhead. There was something different about her, and it was obvious that she was trying not to run into Chika for the past week. 

Riko was just shutting people out. Though Hanamaru couldn't really say anything. After all, wasn't she doing the same thing? 

"Did something happen with you and Chika-chan?" Hanamaru asked. It wasn't for a particular reason, just out of curiosity. Riko flinched, as if expecting the question. "U-Um, I just can't talk to her right now..."

Hanamaru frowned. "If it's a problem, you need to talk to her, zura. If you two fight, there'll be tension in the group." It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Riko looked down, as if she already knew this. Looking at her expression, Hanamaru noticed something. The look on her face seemed familiar. 

After a moment, she realized it. It was an expression she had made before. It was the expression she made when she realized that she liked Yoshiko. And seeing it again made her heart ache. Thy had already made up. They were all friends again. She had gotten over it. 

At least, that's what Hanamaru told herself.

Riko looked up, a sad smile on her face. "I don't know what to do around her anymore. Every time I see her my heart tightens." Silence filled the air again, and after a while, Riko shook her head and jumped out of her seat. "S-Sorry, that was weird. I'm gonna go now." 

Before she could exit the room, Hanamaru grabbed her arm. Riko looked at her in surprise, and Hanamaru didn't even realize that she had done it. However, she knew one thing. "You shouldn't run away from your feeling, zura. Chika-chan loves you, anyone can see that." Riko relaxed, sitting back down. Her face was red, and she was fidgeting nervously.

"B-But how would I tell her how I feel? I'd be too nervous." Hanamaru smiled, looking down at her book. "I heard you playing piano, zura. I love how it sounds. I'm sure Chika-chan does too." Riko bit her lip, before standing up. As she began walking towards the door, she turned back. 

"Thank you, Hanamaru-chan." The younger girl didn't answer, and Riko left to do what she had to.

Seeing the girl by herself, Riko realized how selfish she was. She had just asked someone who recently got rejected on how to ask someone out. Looking through the library window, she saw the girl reading alone. It was peaceful, but also saddening. 

Riko didn't want to see Hanamaru surround herself with loneliness. She knew how that felt. And she promised herself that she would show the girl that she was never alone. Not when she was a part of Aqours. 

Riko stepped out of the school, looking at the setting sun. With newfound confidence, she began walking home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again! This chapter focused a bit more on ChikaRiko, obviously. But it also focused on our recently rejected Maru. Though she had gotten over Yoshiko, I don't really think you can move on that fast from someone, even if you think you can. Which I think she knows. Anyway, City of Sin next Friday.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day! Sadly, I didn't have time to make a valentines chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Yoshiko was hanging out with the student council president. Crazy, right? That's what Yoshiko thought as the two of them sat in Ruby's room. If someone had told her that she would be casually talking to Dia a few weeks ago, she'd probably laugh. 

Even if they were similar in some ways, they never really connected. Usually they would hang out only because of Ruby. But while that may the case this time, there wasn't the tension there used to be. 

Ever since the little "incident" that occurred at the ski resort, Dia had avoided her.

Yoshiko could understand. It was pretty awkward for the rest of the trip after what had happened. However, after the trip, the older girl had made more of an effort to befriend her, and at the same time, Yoshiko had too. Though she made sure that she didn't do the anything weird around the third year. 

Despite the fact that she had no problem doing her fallen angel thing, it was still really awkward for Yoshiko to do it in front of someone else while they were alone. Especially someone who didn't particularly enjoy when Yoshiko became Yohane.

It was kind of weird talking to Dia, but after a while it became normal. And so today the two were talking about something extremely important. 

"Well I honestly think that Eli is the best out of the third years. After all, she is the most mature one." Dia said smugly. She was really confident in what she believed in after all. 

"Eh, I prefer Nozomi. Isn't she incredibly good at fortune telling? Plus, she's super mature too!" Yoshiko argued back. To this, Dia shook her head, disappointed. "Nozomi is a good contender, but for you to like someone just because of their skill at fortune telling? Shallow, Yoshiko-san."

"But-" Yoshiko began to speak up, but was cut off again by the third year. "It's not just about skills, Yoshiko-san. It's about their personality! What they did for the group!" Dia nodded confidently, and Yoshiko sighed, giving up. 

She knew better then to argue with Dia about school idols. 

Yoshiko laid back on the floor with a sigh. "Where did Ruby go anyway?" That was the reason they were gathered there in the first place. Ruby had asked them for advice on costume ideas, since everyone else was busy. 

Dia shrugged. "She had an errand to run, so she won't be back for a while." That sucked. Ever since Yoshiko was rejected at the resort, she had tried her hardest to get even closer to Ruby. Not just for the sake of romance, but for the sake of friendship. 

Which sounded really cheesy now that she thought about it.

Silence filled the room, and Yoshiko couldn't help but feel like things were still a bit awkward. Just as she was about to say something to break the ice, Dia spoke up.

"Actually, I need your input on something, Yoshiko-san." Yoshiko was surprised. Someone wanted her opinion? And that someone was Dia? It almost brought a tear to her eye. She nodded, and Dia continued. "Recently, Chika-san has been having a lot of trouble with her feelings. Feelings for Riko-san to be exact. You could tell that Riko-san has been ignoring her, right?" 

Nope. Yoshiko had no idea. As a matter of fact she wasn't paying attention to the two at all. Deciding that it wasn't a great idea to bring it up, she nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah of course. She's been really weird and stuff." 

Dia nodded absentmindedly, as if not processing what she said anyway. "And I've been wondering something. Is love really that troublesome?" Yoshiko looked shocked. Was Dia, the one who always told them not to worry about love, wondering about love? 

For a moment, Yoshiko lost her train of thought. "Oh, uhh. Yeah. I guess it is." Dia sat there, thinking. The silence was making Yoshiko really uncomfortable, and she was uncertain of what to do. Where was this conversation going? 

Finally, Dia spoke. 

"It's not something I think about much, but I love Ruby. And of course Mari-san and Kanan-san. But romantic love? What is it?" Yoshiko was speechless. And she could tell from the other girl's expression.

Dia was frustrated because all of her friends were going through something she didn't understand. Something she couldn't help them with. 

For once, Yoshiko decided to answer her honestly. "I don't think it's really that complicated." She sat up, looking at her seriously. "Sure, a lot of stuff happens when you're in love, like rejection and embarrassment. You might eventually hate each other. Or just love them even more." Yoshiko scratched her head, as if speaking from experience.

"But that's just how life is, I guess. Loving your family and loving someone else isn't that different. There's just a lot more blushing when you love someone romantically. Well, and some other stuff." Yoshiko suddenly realized how much she had said, and quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed.

The silence that followed was painful for her, since Dia didn't seem to have an expression on her face. 

Finally, the student council president began chuckling. As Yoshiko stared at her in disbelief, the laughter only increased, and finally it ceased. "I-I never expected you to say something so thoughtful." Dia said, a smile on her face. Face red, Yoshiko turned away. "I-I have my moments."

Dia burst into more laughter, and Yoshiko couldn't help but smile.

 

-  
Riko was in class. It had been a few days since she had gotten advice from Hanamaru, and since that time, a lot had happened. Riko slouched on her desk with a sigh. Recently, Dia had talked to her about what she felt for Chika. The older girl had told her about the same as Hanamaru did. It was good advice.

Yet, while Riko had told herself she was going to do something, she, well, still hadn't done anything. She had still ignored Chika, avoiding her any chance she got. It wasn't on purpose, after all, Riko was just trying to formulate a plan.

A plan that took more then a few days to make. With absolutely no preparations required. Okay, maybe she was a little nervous still. You can't blame her, can you?

Before she could keep telling herself that she needed more time, the lunch bell rang, and she felt someone tap her shoulder. 

"Are you okay, Riko-chan?" Feeling a slight sense of deja vu, she turned to see You, who was peering at her curiously. Putting on a smile, Riko nodded. She didn't want to trouble the girl with her problems. After all, You was still hung up on something else.

"It's nothing, let's eat lunch." She said, reassuring You that she was fine. 

As they pulled out their lunch, You looked around. "Chika-chan hasn't been in class often, has she?" Riko shook her head, pushing down her feelings at the mention of the ginger. For the past few days during lunch, Chika had immediately bolted out of the classroom, leaving no room for questions.

"I think she's still busy with some work with the student council. Plus, she needs to work with Kanan-chan about the lyrics for the song." Trying not to sound too invested in the ginger's well being, Riko answered nonchalantly. 

You nodded, still looking a little confused. "Is Kanan-chan writing lyrics?" Riko hummed in response, a small smile on her face. "Chika-chan wanted everyone to get involved with our next song. I'm sure she was going to go to everyone for ideas." 

You chuckled. "That seems like something she would do." She said, eating her food. Riko took a bite of her sandwich, her mind wandering. 

Chika always wanted to make sure that everyone contributed to the group. She wanted a piece of everyone in every song, every costume, and every lyric. It was what Riko loved about her. Chika wanted to give everyone a chance to shine.

After all, even someone like Riko had been given a chance. 

"Riko-chan?" 

Riko jumped at her companion's voice, interrupting her thought. "W-What?" You frowned, and Riko had to wonder if she was doing anything strange. The girl shook her head. "It was nothing. You were just spacing out for some reason." 

Riko began chuckling nervously. "R-Really? I Guss I have a lot on my mind.." She trailed off, trying to look less suspicious. She sighed, looking down at her sandwich, now looking less appetizing. 

She thought of Chika too much, it was honesty unhealthy. 

Trying to get her mind off of the other girl, Riko turned to talk to You again. "Anyway, how have you been?" Ever since the trip, You had been making more of an effort to connect with other people.

You scratched her head, a small smile on her face. "Well, I've been fine, I guess...." She grimaced, remembering something. "Though recently, Mari-chan found out about my crush and forced me to go shopping with her." Riko winced, and You nodded. 

"Yeah, well, she took me to some rich mall." She shook her head. "Those dresses were too expensive for me to look at." The two giggled, and Riko's smile faded. The look on the other girl's face was genuine, yet she saw a familiar sadness in them. It reminded her of Hanamaru.

Riko bit her lip. While their situations were similar, the way they were dealing with them couldn't be any more different. What could she do? Looking at You, she suddenly got an idea. 

"You-chan? Do you think you can do me a favor?" 

It was worth a try.

 

-  
"How about this, Ruby?!" 

"M-Mari-chan, I don't think that would be a good idea..." 

Mari frowned, holding up her idea of an outfit. "It doesn't seem that bad.." Ruby attempted a smile. It was bad. Really bad. All she could say was that it was something that you'd probably get kicked out of Love Live for wearing.

"S-Sorry, Mari-chan. Plus, I don't think onee-chan would like this either..." Ruby gave her an apologetic look, and sighed as the older girl dropped the idea.

It was after school, and the two of them were working on costume ideas for their next concert. To be honest, Ruby was bummed out. The previous day, she hadn't even been able to hang out with Yoshiko or her sister. Which means she wasn't able to get ideas from them.

When she had wondered this aloud at school, Mari had cornered her, offering to help. Ruby decided that it would be nice to see what someone with a rich fashion sense could come up with. 

Sadly, everything that she had suggested so far wasn't too kid friendly.

The club room door opened, and Kanan entered. Seeing the two, she tilted her head quizzically. "What are you guys doing? We don't have practice today." Ruby sighed in relief. If Kanan was here, she could actually knock some sense into Mari.

"We're working on some costume ideas. Do you think you could help us?" Ruby said hopefully. Mari nodded excitedly, and jumped out of her chair to hug Kanan, but was casually held back by one hand. It seemed like Kanan was used to Mari's antics. 

After thinking for a bit, the older girl shrugged. "Sure, though I don't know how much help I'll be." More help than Mari, Ruby thought. 

Kanan sat down, looking at the current rough drafts of the costumes they currently had. She picked up a skimpy looking outfit and smiled uncertainly at Ruby. The redhead quickly shook her head and pointed at Mari, who sulked back to her chair after her failed hug attempt.

Kanan gave Ruby a look of understanding and began helping.

Now that someone responsible was here, the three were working efficiently, and finally they were able to get a solid idea and begin working. "Hey, Ruby..." Kanan said, picking out colors. "How's it going with Yoshiko?" Ruby's eyes widened and she looked away nervously.

Now that everyone knew that they liked each other, questions like this came up often. It was embarrassing, and Ruby often reacted the same way each time. 

"W-Well, I'm still not sure if now's a good time to go out....." She said, looking down at an unfinished skirt. Kanan smiled a little. "Yoshiko's being really patient, you know?" Ruby nodded. She just wasn't sure what she was supposed to do in a relationship. Was she even prepared?

"You don't want Yohane to give up on you! You can't keep a girl waiting!" Mari said, a sly grin on her face. Kanan hit her in the arm. "Cut it out!" She turned back to smile at Ruby. "Yoshiko really loves you, so she wouldn't do that." 

Ruby blushed, and Mari sighed. "It's a shame though. You've captured so many hearts with that smile." The younger girl looked down to hide her embarrassment. She wasn't that cute. Someone like You would have a far better chance of finding someone. 

She voiced her concerns, and Mari tilted her head curiously. "What makes You so attractive?" Ruby looked at her in surprise, considering the question. She never really thought about it. You just seemed like someone others would be attracted to.

"W-Well, she's athletic, and really easygoing. I-I mean, I suppose...." Ruby had no idea what to say. You was her friend, and they worked together on costumes, but other than that? Ruby didn't like her in that way. 

Mari nodded and glanced at Kanan. "Hmmm.....I can see that..." Kanan glared at her, blushing and covering her body. "Hey!" The blonde looked at Ruby and shrugged, causing the younger girl to giggle. 

Ruby looked down at one of the now finished costumes. It donned a black feather, reminding her of a certain someone. Maybe, just maybe, she could give a relationship a chance. 

After all, it would be a learning experience. And learning with Yoshiko didn't seem so bad to her. Ruby's smile widened, and she began humming as she put the finishing touches on the costume.

Things would be getting busy from now on.


	13. Chapter 13

"Alright, that's it for practice today." Kanan clapped, signifying the end of their practice. Hanamaru collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. "I'm so tired, zura....." 

Aqours had finally reunited and returned to their normal schedule. Though it was nice to see them all together, there was something different. Something you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely.

"Zuramaru, do you want to walk home with us?" She looked up to see Yoshiko and Ruby beaming down at her. Sitting up, Hanamaru wiped sweat off her forehead and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I have to move some boxes out of the library today." 

Yoshiko frowned. "We can help then!" Ruby nodded excitedly like a puppy, and Hanamaru shook her head. "It's fine, I don't want to bother you guys after all, zura." Reluctantly, the two nodded, and everyone started on their way home.

Hanamaru grabbed her bag and started for the changing room, but an arm around her shoulder stopped her. "I'll help you out, Hanamaru-chan!" She turned, expecting to see Ruby or Yoshiko, but was surprised to see You grinning at her. 

"Y-You-chan?" Hanamaru said in surprise, quickly looking away. "U-Um, you don't have to. I said I was fine on my own, zura....." The second year shook her head with a frown. "That's nonsense, complete nonsense! I saw how many push-ups you did, and I will not allow you to lift boxes by yourself!" You winked at her. "Plus, you look like you might need some company," She said with a grin.

As the two walked, Hanamaru continued glancing at her in confusion. It was as if You's previous state of mind had completely turned around. She had heard from Riko that You was going through something (Hanamaru was too occupied to ask what), but it seemed as if it didn't even matter anymore.

"I wish I could just forget all about it," Hanamaru thought bitterly. 

After changing, the two headed towards the library. The silence wasn't comfortable nor uncomfortable, so it was something Hanamaru was used to. However, that changed as You began to speak up. "How long have you been working in the library? I remember you saying that you've been doing it for a while." 

Hanamaru tried to hide a bitter smile. Was she just trying to make conversation? This was another thing she was used to. "Ever since middle school, I suppose." Looking at the other girl, Hanamaru's eyes widened to see that You was looking at her with actual curiosity. "And?" She inquired. Hanamaru looked down and continued walking. She knew how to get to the library by memory.

"I just never had many friends, so I just read books, zura. Even after I met Ruby-chan, we spent most of the time there." Though that was probably because she never wanted to go anywhere else, Hanamaru thought with a nostalgic smile. Ruby always tolerated her weird habits. 

"Even when I started high school, the first thing I did was sign up to help at the library. After all, not many people go there, zura," Hanamaru continued. It was strange. She never really realized how lonely she was without Ruby. "That sounds nice." Her thoughts were interrupted, and looked up to see You smiling. She seemed deep in thought.

Hanamaru's face reddened. She didn't mean to say that much. 

The two soon arrived at the library, the sun already setting. Hanamaru sighed as she walked in. There more boxes than she thought there would be. "Alright then, let's start lifting." You started rolling up her sleeves, walking towards the boxes. "It'd take you all night to do this by yourself," she said, grinning. 

Soon after the two began moving the boxes, Hanamaru realized how handy it was to have You around. She always knew it, but You was exceptional strong. Before she could even blink, the boxes were all put up and away. 

The two sat down at a table, and began catching their breath, You especially. Hanamaru felt a little guilty, but she hadn't done much to help the second year. If anything, You had finished by the time Hanamaru had lifted her second box. "Phew! That was a workout!" You said, leaning back in her seat. 

"Are you okay, zura?" Hanamaru was a little worried. They had just finished practice after all, so she must've been sore from that. You shook her head and grinned, flexing her muscles. "Perfectly fine! If anything, this was less of a workout than my usual!" 

Hanamaru didn't know if she should've been concerned or impressed, so she settled with impressed. "How did you get so strong?" She said, genuinely curious. "Ah, well, I do a lot of swimming, so I have to stay in shape. I mean, I always need to stay in shape anyway, so I just exercise when I'm bored," You said, scratching her head in embarrassment.

However, Hanamaru was extremely impressed, and her eyes lit up. "Do you think I can be as strong as you, zura?" You laughed. "Well, I'm sure if you spend some time exercising and a little less time eating, maybe you could get close." Hanamaru frowned, and You laughed again. 

The second year's laugh was contagious, and soon after, Hanamaru found herself laughing along with her. It felt good to laugh.", and she soon found herself smiling from ear to ear. You leaned forward, a satisfied grin on her face. "You seem happy. Much more than before." Hanamaru began blushing and looked down.

"Why do you like Yoshiko-chan?" Not expecting the question, Hanamaru looked up with a nervously at the mention of her friend's name. "W-Well, she always gave me a place to be. When I was with her, I felt like I belonged somewhere." Hanamaru didn't know what it was, but she kept speaking. "It turned out I didn't belong with her after all......" She said cynically, the same bitter smile as before returning.

Hanamaru realized that tears had formed in her eyes, and quickly wiped them before You noticed. She said nothing, and Hanamaru wondered if she just didn't want to get involved. After all, it was her fault that she was heartbroken about it, so what could You do? "I see....." 

Hanamaru looked at the older girl, who was looking out the window wistfully.

After a moment, You looked at her with a grin. "And?" Hanamaru stared at the ground. Was there something else? She looked at the older girl again, biting her lip. "She wanted to be friends again, and I thought I was okay with that, but I wasn't!" Hanamaru began yelling, she couldn't stop. "How could I?!" She was crying.

"How could I just forget it all like that? Forget how much it hurts." She looked at You, tears filling her eyes. "Forget how much I love her." Hanamaru covered her face, sobbing quietly, not looking up. She didn't want to look up. 

You watched her quietly, an understanding smile on her face. She looked out the window, at the setting sun. Time passed and the two sat there for a long while, and as Hanamaru looked up slowly, her eyes red from cry, You grinned at her. 

"Better now? Sometimes you just need to let it all out." 

Hanamaru shook her head, but smiled. "Yeah, just a little, zura." You chuckled. Hanamaru just needed a shoulder to lean on. She just needed someone to help her get back onto her feet. It wasn't much, but.....

You smiled. 

"That's a start!"

 

-  
The weather was slowly becoming warmer, and Kanan couldn't have asked for anything more. Standing on the beach with a slight sense of deja vu, Kanan felt the soft sand beneath her feet and sighed. 

Despite the slight chill, it felt good. 

"K-Kanan-chan." Surprised, she turned around to see Riko, nervous fidgeting. "You're not going to push me into the ocean again, are you?" Kanan joked. The redhead smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "I just needed some advice for something."

Kanan raised her eyebrows, but nodded, gesturing for the other girl to walk with her. 

The two walked together for a while, Kanan assuming that Riko needed time to think. She wondered what it was about her that made people go to her for advice. Sure, she was a third year, but without Dia pulling the reigns in anytime Kanan and Mari got into trouble, she was pretty sure no one would go to her for anything.

"W-Who do you think Chika-chan likes?" Riko asked. Kanan closed her eyes, humming. She wasn't too surprised about what the second year was asking. Dia had told her what Riko was having trouble with. 

Kanan chuckled and gave her a sly look. "I think Chika likes everyone." Riko shook her head and smiled a little. "Yeah, she does....." The two continued walking, until Kanan stopped to look at the sea. "But I think she likes you just a little bit more," she said, breaking the silence. She grinned at Riko, who blushed at the remark.

"What are you worried about anyway?" Kanan said, sitting down on the ground. Riko stayed standing, an unreadable look on her face. "I don't want things to change," she said after a moment of silence. Looking at the older girl on the ground, Riko gave her a pained smile. "I'm afraid that if I get get rejected, things will change. And we'll never be able to do the things we did before." 

Riko understood what You had felt. If Chika rejected her, they would never be able to go back to how things used to be. Would she be able to play piano for her? Would there be a wall between them every time they sung together? 

Kanan nodded, saying nothing. She knew what the second year meant, she had felt it years ago. 

"You know, when Mari left to go study overseas, everything changed," Kanan recalled, a nostalgic feeling washing over her. "I hated it. I really did. But when she had come back, despite me telling her not to, I was relieved." Kanan stood up, stretching. "Eventually, we made up and joined Aqours together." She smiled at Riko. 

"It was a little different from before, and I was scared of what would happen, but it ended well," she said, before chuckling. "The point is, change isn't always bad. And if I know Chika, then I know that she loves you more than anything." Kanan shook her head. "Well, almost anything." Riko looked at the older girl's smile, and nodded.

She had regained her confidence. 

The two girls stood on the beach, only the sound of the waves being heard. Riko felt calm, and realized that hanging out with Kanan was something she could get used to doing. It was a change that felt good. 

Bidding farewell to the older girl, Riko decided to head home. She wasn't particularly in a hurry, so she took her time, taking in the sights that she had gotten so familiar with. By the time she arrived home, the sun had already set, yet Riko still felt wide awake.

Heading to her room, she looked at the piano, and before she knew it, she had sat down. "I haven't played for while..." Riko murmured, placing her hands on the keys. She was so busy worrying about Chika, and for what? Riko began playing, and after a short time, she had been completely engrossed in the sound of the piano.

Catching a sight of orange out the corner of her eye, Riko smiled, continuing to play. Continuing to put all her feelings into it. She wasn't just playing for her. Riko was playing for everyone she loved. Everyone in Aqours. Even if Chika rejected her, she wouldn't hate her. Things would change, but that was how life was.

The way you deal with change influences the way the change will influence you. A prime of example of that was You and Hanamaru. You hid her emotions, burying them deep. She told herself that it meant nothing in the first place. Hanamaru felt alone, isolating herself from her friends. 

They needed help, and the only way they could do that was if they asked. They needed a change. That was why Riko had asked You to help her. Not only so Hanamaru could get closure, but You as well. It would take time for them to heal, but eventually, their pain would fade. 

The song was reaching the end, but Riko didn't want to stop playing. There was so much more she wanted to convey. However, she smiled. What she couldn't say through music, she could say through words. What she couldn't say through words, she could say through actions. 

Riko reached the end, putting all of her feeling, all of her love, into the last notes. Would it reach her? Will she hear it? The sound of her love? She played the last note, letting it ring. Riko sat in the silence, as the note began to fade. She realized that she was breathing heavily. 

Riko stood up, looking towards the room across from her balcony. She wasn't surprised to see Chika smiling back at her. Her chest tightened, but she didn't feel nervous. The only thing she noticed was Chika. "Chika-chan. Were you here the whole time?" Chika nodded, and Riko walked up to the balcony. "Chika-chan I-" 

"Riko-chan! I love you!" 

Chika had shouted at the top of her lungs, leaving Riko speechless. Seeing her dumbfounded expression, the ginger grinned nervously at her. "S-Sorry, I just thought that I should've told you the way I knew how. I don't think it does justice to the way you played piano though...." Chika scratched her head blushing.

"N-No, that was enough...." Riko felt tears fall down her cheeks, not bothering to wipe them. Seeing that she was crying, Chika's eyes widened. "Oh crap! Did I do something?!" Riko shook her head again, giggling through her tears, which only sounded like more sobs. "I-It was kind of embarrassing, but I'm happy. I'm so happy." 

Chika grinned, reaching across the space that separated them. "Riko-chan." 

Riko nodded, wiping her tears and reaching as well. "Chika-chan." 

The two stretched their arms as far as they could, not stopping. Even if they had to leap across the balcony, they would do it. They stopped, smiling at each other. "You know, that's really dangerous." Riko's stomach rested on the railing, only one arm supporting her. "You don't seem to be in a safe spot yourself." Chika was in a far more dangerous situation, nearly her whole body was off the railing. 

Chika grinned. She reached and reached, and finally...

After reaching out longingly, their hands touched.

 

-  
A few hours earlier......

 

Walking out of the school, Yoshiko looked back, worried. "Yoshiko-chan?" She turned to see Ruby, anxiously waiting for her. "Ah, sorry." Jogging to catch up, Yoshiko sighed, and the two began to walk towards the bus stop. 

"Are you worried about Hanamaru-chan?" Ruby asked, noticing Yoshiko's expression. Looking at her in surprise, Yoshiko laughed bashfully, scratching her head. "Yeah, just a little. Lately she hasn't been wanting to hang out with us...." Was it her fault? Sure they made up, but... 

"Hmmm.." Ruby nodded, deep in thought. The two got on the bus, and finally she spoke her mind. "I think Hanamaru-chan is feeling separated." Yoshiko sat down, raising her eyebrows. "Separated?" The redhead nodded, putting her hand up to her chin. It was obvious, but Yoshiko thought it was really cute how Ruby cared for her best friend.

"Yeah. After all, since we l-like," Ruby's voice quieted down, and she began blushing. "I-I mean, since we hang out more, she feels left out." Yoshiko nodded, understanding what she meant. She was so preoccupied that she didn't have much time to hang out with Hanamaru. Of course she would feel left out.

"Why don't we hang out with her tomorrow then? Just us three." Yoshiko suggested. Ruby shook her head and smiled apologetically. "I think that's exactly what she wants to avoid." Yoshiko frowned, looking at her questioningly. "I mean, that's why she doesn't want to hang out with us, right? We need to spend time with her individually." Ruby said, standing up.

They stepped off the bus and began walking."I see..." Yoshiko nodded. That explained a lot. "Besides," Ruby smiled at her. "I haven't spent time with Maru-chan for a long time." That being the case, Yoshiko couldn't really complain.

Arriving at the Kurosawa household, Yoshiko turned to bid farewell. "I'll see you tomorrow," She said with a grin, turning to leave. "Ah, wait!" Turning curiously, she saw Ruby running up to her. "What is it?" Ruby was blushing and fidgeting nervously. "U-Um, there's something I need to tell you." Yoshiko nodded, curiously as to what she would ask. 

"D-Do you remember what happened at the resort?" Ruby twisted her hair around her finger glancing at her occasionally. "When I told you to wait." Yoshiko looked at her dumbfounded for a moment, before realizing what she said. "Oh, w-well there's no rush, really! If you're not prepared for I can wait!" Yoshiko began blushing furiously.

Ruby had rejected her at the resort. How could she forget? Well, she wasn't rejected, she was just told to wait. And Yoshiko was perfectly okay with that. She had said it in the moment, and honestly, she wasn't quite prepared at the time either. Ruby shook her head. "I-I think I can give it a go." 

Yoshiko froze in place. Was this really happening? This nearly as romantic as she thought it'd be. She wasn't mentally prepared yet. Oh god, she couldn't breathe. "Yoshiko-chan?" Yoshiko suddenly realized that she hadn't responded. "Oh, w-what changed your mind?" She managed to get out. 

Ruby looked down at her feet. "I was thinking about what we would learn from it." Yoshiko tilted her head. "L-Learn?" Did she mean, se- 

"N-Not anything dirty," Ruby said, her face a shade of pink. "but why people love each other." This only confused Yoshiko further. Ruby shook her head, trying to find the right words. "Kanan-chan asked me what made people like You-chan. I said that she was athletic and pretty." Yoshiko nodded. That made sense. You seemed like a popular person. "But I realized that it's not just what the person does, but the time you spend with that person that makes you love them." 

Ruby smiled at her bashfully. "A-And I want to know you more, Yoshiko-chan." A mixture of happiness and nervousness washed over Yoshiko, and she could stop herself from grinning. Looking away, Yoshiko coughed. "If you think you can stand the darkness within Yohan-!"

Before she could continue she felt Ruby's soft lips against hers and lost all thought. The kiss lasted for an instant, and the two separated, faces red.

"T-That was my first kiss..." Ruby said in a whisper, looking away. "W-Wha, I-I-" Yoshiko began stuttering nonsense, the sensation still on her lips. Ruby smiled at her, grabbing her hand. Regaining what little composure she had, Yoshiko smiled back uncertainly. There was so much they still didn't know about each other. But maybe that was okay.

Yoshiko looked into Ruby's eyes, drawing closer again. Until...

"Yoshiko-san!!" Looking up in surprise, Yoshiko suddenly remembered that they were at Ruby's house. Which meant Dia was here. Pale, Yoshiko attempted to grin at the older girl. "Y-Yes?" She shouted her. "Were you just about to kiss my sister?" Dia asked from an upstairs window, enraged. It seemed like she was trying her hardest to control herself.

"W-Well, I kind of already did...." Yoshiko said, trailing off. "What?!" She soon regretted that, as Dia seemed to catch what she said. "Yoshiko-san!!!" The older girl disappeared from the window, and Yoshiko realized that she probably just had her first and last kiss. "Yoshiko-chan." Ruby smiled apologetically at her. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Yoshiko nodded, and turned to go.

Before she could go, Ruby grabbed her once more, giving her another quick kiss that made her speechless. "Uh." Yoshiko stared at her dumbfounded, before being interrupted by a furious Dia, who had made her way outside and witnessed the kiss. "Yo-shi-ko-san." She marched towards her with a frightening expression. Yoshiko bolted, flashing a smile at Ruby.

When she turned away, her expression collapsed, and when Yoshiko finally made it home, she decided to avoid Dia for a few days. Well, maybe more than a few days.

 

Fin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the end of the main story of An Adventure of Love and Confusion. After some contemplating, I've decided to dedicate future chapters to cute moments for the relationships established in the story. That means ChikaRiko, KanaMari, and YohaRuby. 
> 
> I love writing this, but I feel like 50 plus chapters can make things seem far too stretched out for my liking. Plus I'm working on a RinMaki story that I'm really looking forward to. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and updates on this story will slow down. Future chapter will be short stories and after stories.


End file.
